Ivan Ljubicic drives out Igor Sijsling from quarterfinal round – Moselle Open 2011
Former world number three, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia had no real trouble in disposing of the Dutch qualifier, Igor Sijsling, in the quarter-final clash of the Moselle Open on Friday night.
Seeded at number three in the tournament, the Croat wrapped up victory in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, to make a place in the semi-final round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event. Sijsling, who has
been in a brilliant form throughout the tournament, hung in the contest for just one hour and fourteen minutes to finish the competition on the losing side.
The Dutch competitor failed to pose any resistance to the belligerence of Ljubicic and was worn out by his error-ridden game in the matchup. 24 year-old Sijsling had a steady start in the opener but the fourth seeded Croat gradually
gathered up pace to overtake him in the later parts of the game. It was the 20thvictory for Ljubicic in the current ATP season, with 15 loses to his name already.
The Croatian veteran fired 13 cracking aces and reeled off 26 out of 34 first serve points in the matchup to come out as the winner. He converted two of his seven break points to drive the Dutch out of the competition with the
utmost ease. Sijsling utterly failed to register a serve break in the entire matchup, frittering away a vital break opportunity in the opener to remain on the back foot in the rest of the contest.
Both men took their time to get settled in the contest and no serve breaks were witnessed in the opening nine games of the match. It appeared as if the set is heading towards a tie breaker round but a timely serve break from the
fourth seeded Croat sealed the opening set for him at 6-4, giving him a 1-0 lead in the competition.
Ljubicic carried on with his pin-point hitting in the following set as well and nailed his second break point conversion of the day in the sixth game to lead 5-2. He then served out of the contest at 6-3 to conclude a comprehensive
victory and earned a pass to the next round of the Moselle Open.
Ljubicic will take on the eighth seeded Luxembourger contestant, Gilles Muller, in his next round clash for a place in the semi-finals of the tournament. Muller stunned everyone when he disposed off the second seeded hot favourite,
Richard Gasquet of France, in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, in the quarter-finals to reach the final four.
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