Igor Sijsling strains past Maxime Teixeira in round two – Mersin Challenger 2012
World number 120, Igor Sijsling, escaped a scare against the 23-year-old French, Maxime Teixeira, in the second round of the Mersin Challenger tournament. It was an epic three-setter and everyone in the arena was entertained to
the maximum before the Dutch player dispatched French starlet 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to march into the quarter-final stage of the tournament.
The 23-years-old French started the match in an emphatic fashion having won the first serve game took on the Dutch with no holds barred; devastated him with killer winners down the line to break serve and take a lead of 2-1. He
was stunning with her forehand and backhand returns that helped him to register another breakthrough in the seventh game of the match that increased his lead to 5-2. A comfortable serve hold titled the odds in his favour and enhanced the chances of another
head-to-head triumph.
Teixeira replied the onslaught of his opponent with his class and guile. He broke serve in the second game of and took a lead of 2-0. With the help of an easy serve hold, the lead was further stretched to 3-0. Sijsling was struggling
to perform the similar way he did in the opening set. He was missing number of winners and over hitting the returns most of the time.
The Dutch starlet won his second breakpoint of the match in the last game of the set. Stage was set for a startling third set between the two talented players. It was a dream start for the French in the final set with a lead of
3-0 upfront. However, he dropped that lead in the fifth game and helped his rival to fight back into the contest.
Suddenly, the momentum swirled in favour of the Dutch who broke serve in the ninth game to take the lead and squandered two points on his final serve game before registering a comeback to save a major upset of the tournament.
Earlier in the day, Thomas Schoorel defeated Radu Albot in straight sets to make his way into the last eight players of the tournament. The tournament is heating up with deserving players coming off to advanced stages.
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