Florian Mayer rolls past Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second round of BMW Open
World number 35 Florian Mayer of Germany prevailed over Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili, ranked 79th in the world, in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(1) in the second round at the BMW Open in Munich on Thursday. The highest ranked
German player on the ATP World Tour sealed victory in one hour and 50 minutes.
Mayer broke his Russian opponent once in the first set to win it 6-4. The German was lucky to win the set despite serving quite averagely as he did not hit any ace and committed two double faults in the opening set. The 27-year-old
delivered 57 percent of the first serves, winning 80 percent of the points on them. In comparison, Gabashvili had a much higher first serve percentage as he hit 82 percent of the first serves. However, the Russian’s conversion rate was lower compared to Mayer,
converting 61 percent of the first serves into points. Mayer capitalized on the only break point opportunity he received in the opening set.
The German broke his opponent in the fifth game of the second set and held his serve in the next game to take a 4-2 lead. Serving for the set at 5-4, the right-handed failed to hold his serve and the score got tied at 5-5. Both
players held their serve in the next two games, taking the set to a tie-break. Mayer crushed Gabashvili in the tie-break, losing just a single point and claiming it 7-1.
The German fired a couple of aces and hit a single double fault in the second set. Mayer delivered 55 percent of the first serves and converted 70 percent of them into points in the second set. On the other hand, Gabashvili hit
two aces and the same number of double faults in the second set. The Russian kept his first serve percentage at 67 percent and won 62 percent of the points on his first serve. Mayer converted one of the four break points he received in the second set.
The German said, after the match, "It was a very tough match. Gabashvili is a really strong player; he hits the ball hard and flat. I’m happy to get through.”
Mayer added, “It’s the first time I’ve won matches here so I’m really happy. I was really nervous before the matches, but the crowd was behind me and now I’m really happy to be in the quarters."
The German is drawn to face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, ranked 69th in the 2011 South African Airways ATP Rankings, in the quarterfinals. Dimitrov upset world number 25 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in three sets 3-6, 7-6(6),
6-2 in the second round.
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