Ivo Karlovic ousts Dudi Sela to reach the quarters – PBZ Zagreb Indoors 2012
Local star, Ivo Karlovic, eased past the Israeli challenger, Dudi Sela, in straight sets at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors 2012 on Thursday. He clobbered a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the world number 73 to secure a place in the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place on the hard courts in Zagreb, Croatia.
The Croatian veteran stayed firm throughout the match against Sela and pulled out the success without losing his serve. Facing each other after four years, Karlovic not only extended lead in the FedEx ATP head2head series by 2-0 against the Israeli but also
advanced into the final eight at his home tournament.
Karlovic boldly stepped in Zagreb hard courts and got the critical break in the third game to subsequently go 3-1 up. Later he remained focused throughout the set and held remaining serves without facing any hindrance. The Croat then converted another break
opportunity to his advantage in the last game and won the opener with a 6-3 score line.
The 32-year-old carried his winning ways into the following set and smoothly held his opening serve to nil. After Sela swiped in his second serve, the Croat went into the savage mode and stroke out the last four games in a row, ultimately finishing the set
with an assuring 6-2 success.
All in all, Karlovic fired 12 vicious aces and dusted away the only breakpoint he came across to comfortably hold his entire serves. On the other hand, the Croat capitalised on four out of six break chances to outclass his rival. He also jolted down a higher
first serve share and superbly clicked 29 out of 32 points on it.
Next in line for the local seed is the Russian star, Mikhail Youzhny. The third seed destroyed the Slovenian challenger, Grega Zemlja, with a breadstick to advance in this tournament.
Karlovic will be joined by his fourth seeded compatriot, Ivan Dodig, in the final eight. The defend champion hit back from a set down to conquer the Spanish rising star, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in a three set thriller to secure this place.
Dodig drew the first blood in the opening game but stepped off gas afterwards. Despite losing the opener with 4-6 shock, the Croat equalised the set score with a single break of serve in the opening game of the following set. He maintained his intensity
in the final set and after capitalising on two out of five break chances, Dodig sealed the decider by winning six games to four.
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