Go Soeda crushes Igor Kunitsyn in round two – BB&T Atlanta Open 2012
Eighth seed, Go Soeda, devastated the Russian tennis star, Igor Kunitsyn, with a breadstick at the BB&T Atlanta Open 2012 on Wednesday. He penned down a 6-1, 7-5 victory against the world number 132 to secure a place in the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held at the Atlantic Station in Johns Creek, Georgia.
The Japanese number two, Soeda, displayed his true colours and crippled the Russian in straight sets in their second meeting. The players last battled each other at the Wimbledon Championships two weeks ago and after stealing this show, Soeda improved to a 2-0 lifetime in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against the 30-year-old.
Soeda comfortably entered the hard courts of the Atlantic Station and plucked his opening serve with poise. After Kunitsyn held his serve in the second game, the Japanese unleashed flurry of groundstrokes and reeled off the last five games in a row, eventually pulling out the opener with a breadstick.
The 54th ranked Japanese kept momentum flowing in the second set and after breaking his opponent’s serve twice, he leaped to a 5-2 lead. Regardless of failing to serve out the set and losing his following two serves, Soeda cashed in another break chance in the 11th game and clicked the set with a 7-5 win.
Summing up the seed’s performance, Soeda sought 13 break chances and availed on five of them to his advantage. He also produced a better first serve share of 47 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 42 per cent and amazingly availed 22 out of 28 points on it.
He will square off against his third seeded compatriot, Kei Nishikori, in the last eight. The Japanese number one rallied past the Lithuanian qualifier, Richard Berankis, in a three-set thriller to set up this clash. He spilled fewer double faults but produced a better first serve share of 63 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 60 per cent. Nishikori also brushed off four out of seven breakpoints he faced and cashed in five out of 13 break chances, eventually registering a 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-4 score line.
Tags: