Ivan Dodig downs Marcos Baghdatis; cruises into the final – UNICEF Open 2011
Fourth seed, Croat Ivan Dodig outmuscled second seed, Cyprian Marcos Baghdatis with a breadstick to breeze into the final of the UNICEF Open 2011, an ATP World Tour 250 series event held in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. He barely
sweated in the final set to earn a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory over Baghdatis on his birthday on Friday.
Both 26-year-old veterans displayed awe-inspiring skills in the opening set and Dodig outshined the higher ranked Cyprian by warding off early resistance and dominating in the second set to win in straight sets on their first meeting.
After overpowering the wild card entrant, Baghdatis in one and half hour, Dodig took the lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against Baghdatis.
The birthday boy was in a commanding position throughout the opener. He found the desiderated serve in the eleventh game and was serving for his serve in the last game before committing to double faults to gift away his serve to
love.
Dodig, who saw the glory at Zagreb in February where he won the title this season, found his rhythm in the tie-breaker where he dominated all over the court to eventually clinch the opener with a 7-6(4) win.
Ranked 42nd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Dodig turned the tables 180 degrees around and stormed in the final set after smoothly reeling off his entire serves. He faced zero breakpoint and converted
all three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to bag a breadstick. Regardless of clobbering a lower first serve share of 59 percent as opposed to Cyprian’s 63 percent, he registered an exceptional 80 percent win on it.
"It’s a nice feeling to win and reach the final," said the happy Dodig. "Of course I can be more happy also about my performance on the court. I think I was playing a very high level today and in the end I think I deserved to win."
Up next for the winning seed, who earlier in the day won his quarter-final match against German Denis Gremelmayr, is the Russian Dmitry Tursunov who stunned third seeded Belgian Xavier Malisse to reach this spot.
World number 70, Tursunov converted all three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to clinch the match with a 6-3, 7-6(1) victory in one hour and forty-four minutes.
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