Igor Sijsling halts Michael Berrer in opening round – Kremlin Cup 2012
Dutch contender, Igor Sijsling, stomped over the German qualifier, Michael Berrer, in straight sets at the Kremlin Cup 2012 on Tuesday. He penned down a 7-6(7), 6-3 success over the world number 110 to book a spot in the round of 16 at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 Series event held in Moscow.
The Dutch rising star warded off early resilience posed by Berrer to steal the show in their first encounter. As a result, Sijsling edged in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series by 1-0 against the 32-year-old and secured a place in the second round at this indoor
hard court event.
Sijsling assertively entered the Olympic Stadium. He smoothly held his entire serves without facing any trouble. The Dutch failed to seek any break opportunity but dominated in the tie-breaker, eventually sealing the opener with a 7-6(7) win.
Ranked 77th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Sijsling maintained consistency in his game in the following set. He swiftly bagged his entire serves without encountering any breakpoint. The Dutch got the breakthrough in the
eighth game after availing one out of two break chances and clinched the set with a 6-3 score line.
Summing up the Dutch’s performance, Sijsling struck six aces and ended the match with 72 points. He produced a slightly lower first serve share of 69 per cent as compared to her rival’s 70 per cent and superbly marked 36 out of 47 points on it.
Next challenge for Sijsling is the second seed, Andreas Seppi from Italy. The Italian star received a first round by after being the top four players at this event.
The seventh seed, Carlos Berlocq, also stole the show later that day. He made an epic comeback from receiving a breadstick in the opening set to overpowering the local wild card entrant, Andrey Kuznetsov, in two hours and 13 minutes.
The Argentinean seed dusted away eight out of 11 breakpoints he faced and cashed three out of eight break opportunities to formulate a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory in their first meeting. He spilled more unforced errors but impressively marked 38 out of 61 points
on his better first serve share of 66 per cent.
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