Gilles Simon and Philipp Kohlschreiber cruise into the next round of 2011 Dubai Duty Free
Unseeded Gilles Simon of France, upset fourth seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny as the German Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated sixth seed Serbian Viktor Troicki in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday.
Simon lost to Youzhny last week at the Open 13 and trailed 0-7 to
the Russian in the pair’s head-to-head score, but this time he defied the odds and managed to win the match 6-3, 7-5 in 91 minutes.
The Frenchman did not face much difficulty in the first set, as he required only one break point to seal a
6-3 win in the first set. Simon won 80 per cent of the points on his first serve and did not face a single break point.
The second set was a thriller, as Simon and Youzhny broke each other and were tied at 5-5 when Simon broke again to claim the set 7-5. He will face the Czech qualifier, Lukas Rosol in the second round.
Talking about his win, Simon said, "That's a very, very good victory for me. When you play someone at this ranking, you know that it's going to be very hard. But I'm also happy because I lost seven times against him in a row.”
The Frenchman added, “Really, when I woke up this morning it was hard for me to imagine that I will play one more match tomorrow. I really played just this match as a final for me. Because I managed to just to focus on to win the match, and trying to forget
everything else."
Another seeded player fell on a day of upsets when world number 35 German Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated sixth seeded Viktor Troicki in straight sets.
Kohlschreiber broke Troicki twice and did not face any resistance in the first set. Troicki had a low 35 per cent first serve percentage and hit two double faults. He was unable save any of the two break points he faced and surrendered the opening set 1-6
to his rival.
The second set was a much tougher contest, as the Serb fought back and went neck-to-neck with the German to take the set to a tie breaker. Kohlschreiber handled the pressure better than his opponent and managed to win important points. In the end, it proved
to be a one sided tie breaker, as Kohlschreiber allowed Troicki to win just two points.
The first serve was the weak link for Troicki, who managed to hit only 48 per cent on it. He saved 4 out of the five break points he faced, but his low first serve percentage allowed Kohlschreiber to attack his second serve. The match lasted for 82 minutes
with the final score 6-1, 7-6 in Kohlschreiber’s favour.
Kohlschreiber will face his much lower ranked compatriot Philipp Petzschner in the second round. Petzschner beat Italian Andreas Seppi in his opening round match.
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