Illya Marchenko ousts Simon Stadler in the final qualifying round – Bath Challenger 2012
Illya Marchenko of Ukraine defeated the 28-years-old German, Simon Stadler, in the final qualifying round of the Bath Challenger and booked a spot in the first round of the contest. He was tested in the opening set but ruled over
the second half of the match to register a straight sets triumph 7-5, 6-2.
Marchenko went down early in the opening set. He was broken in the second game but bounced back in the following game to diminish the lead and levelled the scores at 2-2 with a serve hold. The German again took hold of the proceedings
with a breakthrough in the sixth game but was allowed to hold the lead for just two games.
The Ukrainian did well to keep things under control and didn’t allow his opponent to run away with the show. He pounced on the German in the eighth game and won a breakthrough to level the scores at 4-4. It was a mind-startling
display from both players who were just not playing with their racquets but were judging every move of their opponent as well.
A critical stage of the match came at the scores of 5-5. Both players had to hold serve to enforce a tie-breaker round. It was the German player who faulted on his serve in the 11th game and gifted away the breakpoint
to his rival. Marchenko held his serve to take a one-set lead and edge ahead of his opponent.
The second set started terribly for the German. He lost the opening serve game and went down 2-1 early. However, he did well to keep his chances alive with a breakpoint in the fourth game but couldn’t hold his opponent long enough.
Marchenko broke serve for the second time to take the lead and consolidated his position with a serve hold. Scores progressed to 4-2.
Another breakpoint for the Ukrainian almost ended the resistance of his competitor who had lost hope of winning the match from that stage. He won a couple of points in the final game but that was not enough to keep the set alive
for him.
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