Fernando Verdasco battles past Ernests Gulbis into the quarters – Vegeta Croatia Open 2012
Former champion, Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, had to bring out his best to end the challenge of one of the most talented players on the ATP World Tour, Ernests Gulbis, in the second round at the Vegeta Croatia Open in Umag on Thursday.
The Spaniard lost the second set but then regained his composure in the decider to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in two hours and five minutes.
Gulbis was under pressure from the very beginning of the match, as he saved seven break points in his opening serve game to hold it and go up 1-0. However, he failed to do the same in the third one, losing his serve to trail 1-2.
Verdasco allowed Gulbis to win just two games till the end, sealing it 6-2.
The Spaniard pounded two aces and 61 percent of the first serves in the opening set. The left-hander amazingly won all the 11 points on the first deliveries and five of the seven on the second ones. In comparison, Gulbis banged
in five aces but he lost the advantage, as he also committed six double faults.
Verdasco and the Latvian did not drop their serve in the opening five games to take the score to 3-2 in the latter’s favour. The 23-year-old struck in the sixth to move ahead 4-2 but Gulbis hit back immediately to reduce the trail
to 3-4. However, Verdasco grabbed a breakthrough again in the eighth and made the most of it to triumph 6-3.
Both players hit one ace each but Verdasco committed four double faults compared to two by Gulbis. The Latvian could not maintain a healthy first serve percentage, as he managed to deliver just 40 percent of them correctly, winning
eight of the 10 points on them. The 6ft 3in tall was almost flawless on the replies to the Spaniard’s second deliveries, as he secured 11 of the 13 points.
Verdasco raised the level of his game and looked like a completely new player in the final set, as he allowed his opponent to win only one game, closing it 6-1.
The Spaniard is pitted against the world number 547, Andrey Kuznetsov, in the quarter-finals.
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