Illya Marchenko upsets Olivier Rochus in the semi-finals- Rennes Challenger 2012 CH
Ukrainian professional, Illya Marchenko, dumped the Belgian professional, Olivier Rochus, in the semi-final of the Rennes Challenger 2012. He nudged past his competitor and jolted down his victory, after a three-set thrilling match
on Saturday. He consolidated his 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in nearly two hours and 12 minutes on the hard courts of GreenSet, France.
Fourth seeded Rochus commenced the match with his powerful forehands and cashed away Marchenko’s first serve to crumble his confidence. He stamped his 3-love lead in the third game and did not face a single hindrance. Marchenko
was unable to fire back in response and bestowed his serve to his challenger in the sixth game. The Belgian professional terminated the opener with a bread stick.
Ranked 190th in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Marchenko unleashed his potential and played attacking throughout. For the initial part of the set, Rochus fought back and reaped fruitful results. However, his pace progressively
died down and was unable to strike the lead. The Ukrainian professional cashed the lone serve break opportunities, which disheartened Rochus. He took a flyer after the sixth game and stole the set with a 6-3 score line.
In the deciding set, the two players battled hard to secure the winning spot and a series of serve breaks was witnessed. They both held their poise and attacked each other to claim the victory desperately. Marchenko struggled hard
to take vengeance of the former set and nudged past his Belgian senior to stamp a 7-5 win.
The 25-year-old thundered his rival by firing eight aces and did not commit even a single double fault. He had an average initial serve of 65 percent, converting 16 of 20 first and four of 11 second delivery points. He secured
his lead over the rival by pocketing away three of five break points and his rival secured all two. The 31-year-old, Rochus, had a hopeless first serve accuracy of 41 percent with just 10 of 17 first and 10 of 24 second delivery points.
In the final, he will compete against the local challenger, Kenny De Schepper.
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