Grega Zemlja beats Bjorn Phau to confirm a semi-final berth – Salzburg Indoors 2011 CH
Seeded at number seven in the tournament draw, Grega Zemlja of Slovenia took down the unseeded German opponent, Bjorn Phau, in the quarter-final of the Salzburg Indoors, in Salzburg, Austria, on Friday evening.
Zemlja toiled for two hours and ten minutes of play before winding up the three-setter at 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to book a berth in the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event.
The contest witnessed a magnificent turnaround by the seventh seed, who was pushed down to his back foot early in the matchup when Phau clinched the first set with ease. The Slovenian held his nerve in the contest and made his
way right back in the game after taking the second set. He went on with his impetus in the final set as well, sealing a hard-fought victory in style.
Both contestants fired 10 aces apiece at their opponent’s court but Zemlja took the better of the German by securing crucial points throughout the contest. He collected 50 out of 67 first serve points in the match, whereas Phau
lagged behind with 38. Zemlja had 14 break opportunities in the contest but three conversions from him proved sufficient to close out the contest in the third set.
Phau took the first break point of the day in the fifth game of the opener to get into a 3-2 lead early. Zemlja failed to return the favour in the first set and was forced to submit the set number one at 4-6, letting Phau 1-0 in
the contest. The Slovenian finally seized a break opportunity in the sixth game of the following set and then held his serve to reach 5-2 comprehensively. Zemlja served out of the second set at 6-3 to draw the scores 1-1 in the contest.
Phau suffered two cracking breaks of serve right up in the final set to fall back at 1-5. He registered his second break point of the match in the eighth game but it all came a bit too late and Zemlja sealed out victory at 6-4.
Zemlja will take on the top seeded Slovak, Karol Beck, in his next encounter to battle it out for a spot in the final of the Salzburg Indoors. Beck also had some tough times in the quarter-final clash against the local wildcard
entrant, Martin Fischer, eventually defeating the Austrian in three sets, 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to have a semi-final berth. Zemlja and Beck will go one-on-one on Saturday evening and the winner will earn a title shot in the Sunday’s final at Salzburg.
Tags: