Janko Tipsarevic rallies past Federico Delbonis into the third round – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Seventh seed, Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, scored a tough win over Argentine qualifier, Federico Delbonis, defeating him 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 6-3 in the second round at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Wednesday. The Serbian needed two hours and 35 minutes to win a fierce encounter.
Delbonis took the initial advantage, as he broke Tipsarevic in the fifth game of the first set but could not capitalise on it, squaring off the score at 3-3. The rest of the proceedings went with serves, taking it to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. Tipsarevic built a 4-1 lead but the Argentinean bounced back to equalise the score at 4-4. The Serbian clinched three of the next four points to win 7-6(5).
Tipsarevic did well to bang in three aces but put away the advantage by hitting the same number of double faults in the opening set. The Serbian snatched 20 of the 27 first and eight of the 14 second serve points. The eighth ranked contestant failed to put away the only break point he faced but balanced by converting the one he received.
The Serbian and Argentinean held all of their serves in the second set to level the score at 6-6 and take it to a tie-breaker. None of them was allowing the other to get lead, as they went on equal terms till 6-6 but then Delbonis won two successive points to triumph 7-6(6).
The Argentinean gave a satisfactory performance on serve, as he delivered 66 percent of the first serves and secured 19 of the 31 points on them. He fired two aces compared to five by Tipsarevic but his second return show was better, winning seven of the 15 points.
After losing the second set from the narrowest of margins, Tipsarevic came roaring in the decider, inflicting a blow on Delbonis in the second game and consolidating on it to move ahead 3-0. The Serbian did not let away his advantage till the end, sealing it 6-3.
Tipsarevic kept firing aces from his racket, making a total of five but he also committed one double fault. The Serbian dropped just one point on the first serves, grabbing amazingly 16 of the 17 of them. The 5ft 11in tall did not provide Delbonis any break point and converted one of the three of his own in the final set.
The Belgrade, Serbia resident will meet Gilles Simon of France in the round of 16.
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