Feliciano Lopez dumps Yen-Hsun Lu to reach quarters – China Open 2012
Spanish contender, Feliciano Lopez, tumbled the Taiwanese challenger, Yen-Hsun Lu, in straight sets at the China Open 2012 on Thursday. He juggled up a 6-3, 7-6(7) victory against the 29-year-old to secure a place in the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 Series event held in Beijing, China.
The Spanish veteran warded off late resilience posed by Lu to pull out the victory in their second meeting at this outdoor hard court event. After earning the glory in one hour and 32 minutes, Lopez improved to a 2-0 lifetime in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head
Series against the world number 64 and progressed into the final eight at this outdoor hard court event.
The left-hander from Spain made a thunderous entry at the National Tennis Center. He drew the first blood in the second game and cruised to a 3-0 lead. Lopez kept his remaining serves with poise and clicked the opener with a 6-3 success. He blocked the only
breakpoint he faced and converted one out of two break chances to his advantage.
Ranked 30th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Lopez carried his rhythm in the following set. He got the coveted break in the seventh game and took a 4-3 lead. The Spaniard squandered his lead in the very next game but broke
his opponent’s serve again and took a 6-5 lead. Despite levelling the scores in the last game, Lopez dominated in the tie-breaker and clinched the set with a 7-6(7) score line.
The 31-year-old prevailed throughout the battle. He smashed 10 aces and despite clobbering a lower first serve share of 51 per cent, Lopez amazingly marked 29 out of 37 points on it.
Lopez will next face the American challenger, Sam Querrey, who crippled Italy’s Andreas Seppi with a breadstick to reach this spot.
The Russian star, Mikhail Youzhny, will accompany the Spaniard in the last eight. He dumped the South African number one, Kevin Anderson, in straight sets to progress. Youzhny was broken once but cashed in four out of five break opportunities, ultimately
formulating a 6-3, 6-3 success.
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