Janko Tipsarevic topples Steve Darcis to enter quarters – Mercedes Cup 2012
Top seed, Janko Tipsarevic, took down the local contestant, Steve Darcis, in straight sets at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Wednesday. The Serb registered a 6-4, 6-2 victory against his fellow 28-year-old to book a spot in the final eight at this outdoor clay
court tournament taking place in Germany.
The world number eight, Tipsarevic, required one hour and 19 minutes to stomp over the Belgian at the Tennis Club Weissenhof. Battling each other for the first time, the Serb not only took lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head
2 Head series by 1-0 against Darcis but also advanced into the quarter-finals.
"I felt I was focussed from the first till the last point," said the Serb in a post-match press conference. "I haven't played a lot of tennis lately, I had a couple of days off after Wimbledon, but I'm not the kind of guy who doesn't play a lot of tennis
and comes and suddenly feels great even though it looked like it today. I was really anxious and nervous at the beginning of the match. Luckily I managed to establish control by breaking the guy pretty early and then later on it was easier."
Tipsarevic made a nervy start at this ATP World Tour 250 series event but after getting the coveted break in the fifth game, he gained his confidence. Despite squandering his edge in the very next game, the Serb capitalised on another break chance in the
seventh game to get the upper hand again. He plucked his remaining serves and sealed the opener by winning six games to four.
The Serbian number two kept momentum flowing into the follow-up set and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. He maintained his intensity and availed another break chance in the fifth game, subsequently jumping to a 5-1 lead.
Tipsarevic held his serve once more and bagged the set with a 6-2 win.
All in all, the Belgrade native spilled more double faults but manifested a better first serve share of 63 per cent as compared to his rival’s 54 per cent. He also amazingly clicked 30 out of 38 points on it and capitalised on four out of six break chances
to earn the glory.
Next in line for Tipsarevic is another local challenger, Bjorn Phau, who tumbled over Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol in straight sets to set up this meeting.
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