Izak Van Der Merwe undoes Facundo Arguello to move into the semis – Bogota Challenger 2011
Facundo Arguello of Argentina clashed against the South African Izak Van Der Merwe in the quarter-final round of the Bogota challenger 2011. The match was played on classic clay court. The Argentine had his had his first head-to-head
match against the South African in the Bogota Tournament.
The Argentine had won 9 out of the last 10 matches including this match. His excellent form made analyst predict his win over the South African. The 18-year-old star had won the Argentina F9 previously giving him a boost in the
current tour. However, this was just a prediction as Izak made his things unpredictable as he won the match with a strong fight.
Izak has a current ranking of world No. 123 and had experience of playing the top players as well. The South African had played a total of 378 match overall and had won 219 out of those. Despite the ranking, Izak also had this
season as his best as he went to his top ever ranking at world No. 121.
Starting off with the opener of the match, Arguello served first and scored his first game 1-0. Izak followed to level it up to 1-1. Winning a breakpoint of Arguello’s serve Izak took the lead in the first set. Evening up the lead
to 2-2 the Argentine won the game but unfortunately his last for the set as the South African gave him a slapper, winning the next 4 games and the set 6-2.
Arguello made a strong comeback in the second set as he slapped back the South African with the same score. Winning a breakpoint of Izak’s serve and the game following that, the Argentine put on a quick lead to 2-0 in the second
set. Steadily both players then won on the respective serves to 4-2. Arguello won a fantastic breakpoint to increase his lead and finally finished the set 6-2.
The decider set and the game score was once again opened up by the South African. Winning on respective serves for the first three games of the second set, the score was now 2-1 to Izak. The match intensified as both player won
breakpoints one after the other. Arguello levelled the scores to 3-3 after game22 and to 4-4 after game 24. Fighting for their first win against each other, the South African served game 25 and won a breakpoint on Arguello’s serve to win the game, set and
the match 6-2, 2-6 and 6-4.
Statically the match was a close call for both of the players as the successor had won only by three points. Totalling a massive 84 points in the game, Izak won an amazing 49 service points and 35 returners. The only difference
that made Izak’s win possible was that the 18 year old could not win enough breakpoints. Never the less the young Argentine gave a tough time to the South African.
Izak will now play the local favourite Carlos Salamanca in the semi-final round of the Bogota Challenger.
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