Igor Andreev prevails over Robert Farah in the final qualifier – Mercedes Cup 2012
Russia’s top seed, Igor Andreev, faced tough resistance but managed to beat Robert Farah of Colombia in straight sets 7-6(4), 7-5 in the final round of the qualifying draw at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany on Monday.
The Russian contestant needed one hour and 47 minutes to outlast his opponent.
Farah was under pressure on his opening serve but saved a break point to hold it and go up 1-0. However, Andreev succeeded in breaking the Colombian in the third and consolidated on it to attain a 3-1 advantage. Farah hit back
in the sixth game and levelled the proceedings at 3-3. The rest of the set went with serves to take the score to 6-6 and force a tie-breaker. Farah started with a 2-0 lead and improved it to 3-1 but he managed to win only one of the following seven points,
going down 6-7(4).
Andreev smacked a single ace and 63 percent of the first serves, converting 15 of the 22 of them into points. The Russian was flawless on his second deliveries, as he did not drop even one point, winning all 13 of them. The 28-year-old
converted one of the two break points he received and saved three of the four he faced in the opener.
In the second set, both players served splendidly, as they did not allowed the other to break in the first 11 games and took the score to 6-5 in favour of Andreev. Serving to stay in contention at 5-6, Farah could not play at his
best and dropped it, losing 5-7.
The Russian banged in a couple of aces and 55 percent of the first deliveries in the second set. The Moscow resident had a superb conversion rate, as he grabbed 14 of the 17 first and 10 of the 14 second serve points. He did not
provide any break opportunity to Farah and managed to avail the one he created.
Andreev is slated to meet Germany’s Tommy Haas in the opening match of the main draw. Seeded eighth at the event, Haas booked his place directly in the main round.
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