Ivan Ljubicic defeats Daniel Brands at PBZ Zagreb Indoors
Second seed Ivan Ljubicic triumphed at the second round of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors, defeating German tennis pro, Daniel Brands, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 at the Dom Sportova in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb. The match lasted a little over one hour and eight minutes.
The PBZ Zagreb Indoors is an important ATP 250 Series event, mostly significant because it is the first tournament to be played on the European circuit. The winner is awarded 250 ranking points.
This year, 2010 champion, Marin Cilic, will be defending his title and points.
The favourite to win the tournament is Croatian tennis pro Ivan Ljubicic, a powerful base-liner known especially for his serve.
Ljubicic is currently World Number 15, and is seeded second at the tournament after Cilic. He is well-known for his volleys, and plays doubles tennis sometimes. He and partner Mario Ancic are one of only two teams to defeat American brothers Bob and Mike
Bryan in doubles tournaments.
Ljubicic uses slices and drop-shots on his backhand, and relies on his serve. His current racquet is the Head Youtek Extreme Pro Racquet.
This tennis match was the first professional meeting between Daniel Brands and Ivan Ljubicic.
Brands is currently rated World Number 79, and turned pro six years ago in 2005. He has played three matches in 2011 without winning any. He has won no career titles. Currently 23 years old, Brands is one of the tallest players on tour, at six feet five
inches. He plays right-handed.
Meanwhile, Ljubicic is 31 years old and only an inch shorter than Brands. He turned pro over ten years ago in 1998, and also plays right-handed. This is Ivan Ljubicic’s fourth match in 2011. His first three matches were at the Australian Open, where he made
it to the third round before being ousted by fourteenth seed Nicolas Almagro.
The second round match was an easy one for Ljubicic, despite Brands’s attempts to undermine the player.
Ljubicic has made it to the next round of the tournament. He has cleared all previous rounds without dropping a set. Ljubicic has the added advantage of being a home favourite, and he was supported enthusiastically by spectators.
The World Number 15 received a bye in the first round (as did the other three top seeds) and this is his first match at the Zagreb tournament this year. He will meet either Ivan Dodig or Illya Marchenko in the quarterfinals.
Tags: