Ivan Ljubicic upsets Fernando Verdasco in the third round – French Open 2011
Unseeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, ranked 37th in the world, knocked out world number 20 Fernando Verdasco of Spain in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-4 in the round of 32 of French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday.
It took Ljubicic two hours and fourteen minutes to undo his opponent.
The Croatian took the early lead as he broke Verdasco in the second game of the opening set to go ahead 2-0. Ljubicic carried on the onslaught and broke the Spaniard again in the fourth game, racing to a 4-0 lead. Verdasco avoided
a bagel set as he held his serve in the sixth game. The Spaniard clinched one break back as he broke the Croatian in the seventh game and held his serve in the next game to reduce his opponent’s lead to 3-5. Ljubicic finally succeeded in serving out the set
in the ninth game, sealing it 6-3.
The Croatian fired two aces and 66 percent of the first deliveries in the opening set, clinching a whopping 86 percent of the points on them. On the other hand, Verdasco had a very good first serve percentage, hitting 88 percent
of the first serves but the Spaniard had a disappointing conversion rate as he converted a meagre 48 percent of the first serves into points in the first set. The left-handed converted the only break point he received on Ljubicic’s serve but could not save
two of the three break points on his own serve in the opening set.
In the second set, the Croatian and Verdasco failed to break each other’s serve in the first twelve games and tied the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. Ljubicic captured a single mini-break in the tie-break, bagging
it 8-6.
The 32-year-old served brilliantly as he delivered 69 percent of the first serves, sealing an amazing 96 percent of the points on them in the second set. The former world number 3 converted 23 percent of the returns into points
in the second set. Ljubicic hit eight winners and nine unforced errors compared to fourteen winners and fifteen unforced errors by Verdasco.
After getting two sets to love down, the Spaniard had a good start to the third set, breaking Ljubicic in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. However, the Croatian broke back immediately and held his serve in the next game to square
off the score at 2-2. The six feet and four inches tall broke again in the ninth game and served out the set at 5-4.
Ljubicic capitalised on two of the four break point opportunities he created on Verdasco’s serve and failed to save the only break point on his own serve in the third set.
The Croatian will play King of Clay, world number 1 Rafael Nadal in the round of 16.
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