Illya Marchenko surprises Bjorn Phau in the round two – Geneva Open 2012 CH
Ranked 165th in the South African ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Rankings, Illya Marchenko, gave a three-set shocker to his German challenger, Bjorn Phau, in the second round of the Geneva Challenger
2012. He pocketed away his 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph at the indoor hard courts of the GreenSet GrandPrix in Switzerland.
The two contenders summed their win in nearly one hour and 43 minutes. The Ukrainian junior gave his rival a straight sets defeat 6-3, 6-4, at the hard courts of Astana Challenger 2009 in the semi-finals, held at the indoor hard
courts of Kazakhstan.
Phau served confidently in the opener and never allowed his opponent to nail a break point. He confidently drew the first blood and dissolved his challenger’s serve in the fourth game. This completely dashed their Ukrainian professional’s
motivation and he was unable to break the ice. Taking chance, he beautifully held his serve with poise, reeling off all the games and stole the initial set comprehensively.
In the second set, 25-year-old Marchenko dissolved his competitor’s serve in the fourth game and marked his lead by 3-1. The fourth seeded German rival was unable to retaliate under pressure and just bagged two games. The Ukrainian
preserved his beat and eventually concluded the set with a 6-2 lead.
In the final set, the 33-year-old German completely dashed his hopes and determination to take the front line. The right-hander Ukrainian contestant beautifully sustained his poise and made a classic display of his will challenge
all the over powering odds in his way. He finished the decided with a 6-2 win.
The 25-year-old, Ukrainian player manifested 47 percent first serve with 20 of 27 first and 20 of 31 second serve points. The world number 83, Phau, fired five aces and bagged away 28 of 38 first and 14 of 33 second delivery points.
He capitalized on two of three serve breaks and his challenger secured four of six to secure the top row.
In the next round of the ATP Challenger Tour event, Marchenko will battle against Henri Laaksonen. He gave the fifth seeded, Malek Jaziri, a straight sets defeat in previous round.
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