Jan Mertl, Matwe Middelkoop win second round qualifying matches – Eckental Challenger 2011
On October 30, 2011, the 2nd round matches of the men’s singles qualifying round of the 2011 Eckental Challenge took place. The first match of the day, contested between Jan Mertl (Czech Republic) and Mateusz Kowalczyk
(Poland), was an interesting one which the Czechoslovakian won 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5).
The 29-year old Mertl played well in the first set, which he won 6-2. In the second set, the 908thranked Polish player made a decent recovery winning it 6-4. He scored nine aces in the second set as compared to Mertl’s
one. However, Mertl was on the back foot in the first set. He could not save the only break point he conceded while Kowalczyk saved all five of his break points.
The third set was the decider as both players entered in it by winning two sets each. Ranked 183rd in the world, Mertl received some good return shots from his opponent, who was also fighting for a place in the main rounds by winning
the qualifying match. Mertl had a higher first serve percentage ratio as he stood on fifty-six percent while the Polish only had a forty-nine percent success rate. The third set went to Mertl, who won the set 7-6 (5) and with it qualified for the main tournament.
Along with Mertl, the other player who qualified from 2nd round of the qualifiers of the 2011 Eckental was Matwe Middelkoop (Netherlands) when he won the match against Michal Schmid (Czech Republic), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
Middelkoop was playing sensibly, as he conceded only three double faults while his Czechoslovakian opponent had a staggering fourteen double faults in the match. Schmid was trying hard to win the qualifier but he got a bit desperate
during the match, forcing him to play misdirected shots and his double faults showed an increasing trend throughout the match.
The first serve ratio of Schmid was at forty-two percent while his opponent had a fifty-eight percent first serve success rate. In the opening set, 280th ranked, 28-year old Middelkoop saved the only break point he conceded
while his opponent could save five out of six. In the second set, Schmid came back after the first set loss and won it 6-4. Schmid scored four aces in the second set while Middelkoop scored five.
In the third set, however, Middelkoop wanted to finish the match at the earliest for he did not give any room to his opponent in scoring points. Schmid conceded five double faults in the third set, which gave Middelkoop ample space
to win the third set 6-1 and win the match to qualify for the next round.
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