Jan Mertl thrashes Matwe Middelkoop in final round qualifiers – Eckental Challenger 2011
On October 31, 2011, the final round of the men’s qualifying stage of the 2011 Eckental Challenger was contested in Eckental, Germany where Jan Mertl (Czechoslovakia) defeated Matwe Middelkoop (Netherlands) in a straight set victory,
6-0, 6-2. The 29-year old Mertl was looking in fabulous form as he scored four aces in the first set with no double faults. Middelkoop scored one ace but also did not concede any double fault.
They played with precision for they did not want to give their opponent any lead in the match. World number 183, Mertl had a hundred percent ratio in the first set for winning all of his first service points. His opponent, world
number 280th had a sixty-five percent success ratio in terms of winning first serve points. Middelkoop was unable to win any game in the first set as Mertl showed his dominance with an impressive first set win of 6-0.
In the second set, Mertl was again on the front foot as he saved both of his break points while the Dutch was successful in saving nine off his eleven break points. Mertl continued with his controlled shots over the Dutch in the
second set when he delivered four aces and Middelkoop could only reply with one.
The second set also saw both players concede two double faults each as the Czechoslovakian wanted to retain the lead while Middelkoop was in search for a second set win. Mertl saved both of his break points but Middelkoop could
only manage to save nine out of the eleven break points, which was another factor evident in the match, that the Dutch was not effective in his counter attack. Mertl also won the second set, 6-2, and made his way to the next round of the tournament.
In another match during the final round of the men’s singles qualifying stage, Andre Begemann (Germany) won his match against Philipp Oswald (Austria), 7-6 (5), 6-3. Although Oswald, world number 263, scored eleven aces as compared
to his opponents’ seven, the Austrian could not take a decisive lead in the match.
This was mainly because of his lower first serve success rate. In the first set, both players conceded a single double fault and the set went into a tiebreaker which Begemann won 7-6(5). In the second set, Oswald made a comeback
when he conceded one double fault but was unsuccessful in containing Begemann from scoring any extra points. Begemann won the second set 6-3 and the match to enter the next round of the tournament.
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