Gilles Muller shocks Jurgen Melzer in the second round – Erste Bank Open 2012
Fourth seeded, Jurgen Melzer, received a three-set shocker at the hands of the Luxembourg professional, Gilles Muller, in the second round of the Erste Bank Open 2012 held at the hard courts of Vienna, Austria. He summed up a 6-3,
3-6, 7-6(4) triumph on the eve of Wednesday.
The Austrian professional gave his rival a straight set defeat when they initially met in the first round of the Ordina Open –‘s – Hertogenbosch at the grass courts of Netherlands. Melzer penned down a 6-2, 6-2 win in 2006.
The 29-year-old, Muller, displayed his classic performance in the opening set to generate some momentum early in the contest. He cashed his rival’s initial serve and completely dissolved his confidence by securing the first three
games, stamping a 3-love lead. Irrespective of his loss, Melzer struggled to reach the front line, his efforts proved fruitful later on and he broke his rival’s serve in the fifth game to square the score line at 3-3. However, with time his pace declined and
Muller got back in action. He nudged forward to attain his lead and closed the initial set with a 6-3 lead.
In the second set, the two players held their initial serve but the left-hander local challenger advanced at exceptional pace and confidently drew the first blood, bringing the scores to 3-1 in the fourth game. The Luxembourgian
professional never seemed to respond back and the momentum smoothly shifted towards to the other side.
The two participants gave each other a tough time in the final set and the scores line repeatedly levelled down after every other game. Nonetheless, the players held their serves throughout, giving each other a tough deal. The
left-hander, Melzer, nudged forward and terminated the match with a 7-6(4) after a close tiebreaker round.
The world number 37, Melzer, fired his rival with eight aces and had 67 percent initial serve precision. He bagged away 40 of 56 first and 16 of 28 second delivery points. In comparison to that, his opponent attacked with 18 remarkable
aces and 70 percent first serve precision, capitalizing on all the two serve breaks.
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