Izak Van Der Merwe demolishes Erik Chvojka in the quarterfinal – Charlottesville Challenger 2011
Fifth seeded South African Izak Van Der Merwe destroyed Canadian Erik Chvojka in the quarterfinal of Charlottesville Challenger 2011.
On Thursday the 3rd of November 2011, the two rivals took up the gauntlet out on indoor hard courts of the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Virginia. After a lengthy one hour and fifty seven minutes the fifth seeded
South African got rid of the Canadian in straight sets of 7-6(7), 6-2.
Merwe opened the set after winning the service pitch and he quickly bagged his service game to kick open the scoreboard at 1-0. Following in his footsteps was Chvojka, who too held his serve and placed himself on the scoreboard
at 1-1. At the end of the fourth game, the players once more tied the score at 2-2 with a hold of serve by both.
In the fifth game, Merwe tactfully warded off his adversary and battled a few deuces to hold his serve to progress the score to 3-2. However in the next game, Chvojka was unable to hold his serve and endorsed a crucial break to
his adversary, who had taken the lead and was now only a game away from his victory.
Nonetheless, Merwe was unable to close the set in the next game, while, Chvojka made a return by utilizing the serve-break-serve method to tie the score at five games each by the end of the tenth game. As the players once more
held their respective serves, the set pushed into a tiebreaker.
The toe-to-toe leg progressed well into the tiebreaker and the challengers matched an eye for an eye with neither player giving the lead to the other. With a series of breaks and holds the score tied at seven points each but in
the last two points, Merwe broke his adversary and reeled off two successive points to clinch the tiebreaker at 9-7. In doing so; he clogged the set and took the competitive edge over his adversary.
The second set was commenced by Chvojka and he skilfully handled his serve and placed himself on the scoreboard at 1-0. Merwe followed behind and he too placed himself at 1-1 by the end of the second game. It was in the third game
that Chvojka had double faulted on his serve and endorsed a crucial breakpoint to his adversary, who had taken a mini lead with a hold of serve in the next game.
Merwe once more repeated the feat and was now only a game away from victory but he was unable to close the set in the next game. However, he eventually clogged the set in the eighth game by restricting his opponent to only two
games in the entire set!
Merwe sealed his victory of the match and managed to reserve a spot in the semi final where he will be facing third seeded American Bobby Reynolds.
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