Florian Mayer rallies past Albert Montanes into the last four – UniCredit Open 2012 CH
Seeded third in the tournament draw, Germany’s Florian Mayer survived the loss of second set to overcome sixth seed, Albert Montanes of Spain, 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-4 in the quarter-finals at the UniCredit Open in Czech Republic on Thursday.
The German needed two hours and 19 minutes to complete victory over his opponent after a tough contest.
Montanes was first to take lead, as he broke the German in the second game to go up 2-0. However, Mayer struck back immediately to equalise the score at 2-2. The German continued to play impressively and grabbed two more to gain
a 4-2 advantage. Serving for the set at 5-4, Mayer failed to hold his serve and levelled the proceedings at 5-5. Both players held in the following two and took the score to 6-6, forcing a tie-breaker. The German played near splendidly and allowed Montanes
to claim just two points, winning it 7-6(2).
Mayer smacked one ace and 50 percent of the first deliveries in the opening set, clinching 14 of the 18 points on them. He lost 12 of the 18 points on the second serves but compensated that by securing 12 of the 20 on the second
returns.
The second set saw both players breaking each other in the opening two games and squaring off the score at 1-1. Montanes hit a blow to the German in the fifth and consolidated on it to build a 4-2 lead. The Spaniard maintained
it till the end to triumph 6-4.
Montanes did not serve very well, as he hit only one ace and committed three double faults but he performed well at key moments, converting two of the six break points he received and saving three of the four he faced in the second
set.
In the third set, both players put up a pathetic display on serve, as seven of the 10 games were broken. However, Mayer earned four of the seven and closed it 6-4.
The German, once again, performed brilliantly on the second returns, converting eight of the 11 of them into points.
Mayer is slated to play either Marek Semjan or Jerzy Janowicz in the semi-finals.
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