Jan Hernych battles past Sergiy Stakhovsky to advance into the second round – Gerry Weber Open 2011
Czech qualifier Jan Hernych outmuscled Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in troublesome three sets to advance into the second round of the Gerry Weber Open, a grass court tournament held in Halle, Germany. He failed to find a break in
the last two sets but dominated in the deciding set’s tie-breaker to clinch the match with a 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(8) victory against 25-year-old Ukrainian on Monday.
Ranked 218th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Hernych outplayed the Ukrainian, ranked 182 places above him, in a three set thriller on their third meeting. He broke three times in the opening set
and regardless of failing to convert any breakpoint opportunity to his advantage in the remaining sets, the Czech dominated in the decider’s tie-breaker to book a round of sixteen spot.
31-year-old made a blasting impact at Gerry Weber Stadion after breaking the world number thirty-six Stakhovsky’s serve in the very first game. He then took leap in the fifth game to extend his lead by 4-1. Later, the Czech kept
his remaining serves and broke the youngster’s serve again in the last game to close the opener with a 6-3 win. Hernych produced a slightly lower first serve share but registered an amazing 75 percent win on it.
Stakhovsky turned the tables around in the second set and held his opening serve in the second game to level the scores at 1-1. He continued his ways and bagged his entire serves convincingly. Although the Ukrainian saved both
breakpoints faced but failed to convert twelve breakpoint opportunities he founded to his advantage and dragged the set to tie-breaker. Stakhovsky then prevailed in it to clinch the equaliser with a 7-6(5) win.
Hernych dig his way back in the game when it matter the most. He plucked his entire serves superbly after hammering blistering forehands from his box of tricks. The Czech saved all four breakpoints conceded but failed to convert
both breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to take the decider into the tie-breaker. Hernych prevailed in it to seal the set with a 7-6(8) victory.
Overall, the Czech produced a slightly higher first serve share of 70 percent as compared to Stakhovsky’s 67 percent and earned an impressive 72 percent win on it.
Up next for Hernych is the winner of the match between second seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans. He needs to raise the bar of his game to stun a seeded player in this tournament and proceed far.
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