Ivan Ljubicic defeats Tomas Berdych; cruises into the quarters at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
Croatian Ivan Ljubicic upset 5th seeded wild card entrant, Czech Tomas Berdych in straight sets on Thursday to advance to the quarter-final of the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters at Monaco.
The players last met at Rotterdam in 2008 where Berdych downed the Croat in straight sets but now after three years, Ljubicic took his revenge and secured a 3-2 lead in their head-to-head series. The 40th ranked Croat
downed his Czech rival, who is 33 ranks higher than Ljubicic in the ATP World Tour ranking, by 6-4, 6-2 in 81 minutes at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and booked his spot in the quarter-finals.
The 32-year-old Croat, who made a semi-final berth at Rotterdam, displayed tremendous skills in the opening set. Although he committed more double faults and unforced errors, he smacked three aces and earned an amazing 78 percent
win on his slightly lower first serve share. The Croat held his entire serves spectacularly and finally earned the coveted break in the tenth game to cling the set with a 6-4 win.
He carried his winning momentum into the second set and held his opening serve plausibly. Ljubicic got the coveted break in the fourth game and took the lead by 3-1 but called medics for treatment after winning. The Croat carried
on the match and held his remaining serves spectacularly. However in the eighth game, he converted his second breakpoint opportunity to his advantage to win the set with a convincing 6-2 score line.
Overall Ljubicic showed exceptional skill to best the 2010 Wimbledon’s runner up Berdych in straight sets. He slammed five aces, registered a fantastic 84 percent win on his acceptable first serve share and capitalised on three
out of four breakpoint opportunities.
Ljubicic will next face top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
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