Jarkko Nieminen breezes past Dudi Sela to reach the semi-finals – IPP Open 2012 CH
Home favourite, Jarkko Nieminen, lived up to the hopes of the local crowd and advanced into the semi-final round of the IPP Open on Friday. He outplayed the fifth seeded Israeli contender, Dudi Sela, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2,
in the quarter-final clash.
Top seeded Nieminen took merely 63 minutes to avenge his defeat from Sela, who disposed the Finn contender in the Round of 16 at Delray Beach earlier this season. Nieminen overcame the early resistance from the fifth seeded opponent
and cruised through the later parts of the match with commanding ease. He bettered Sela in every segment of the game and cashed in most of his opportunities in the contest en route to victory.
Fifth seeded Israeli had the best possible start in the opening set, breaking Nieminen in the very first game and imposing a 2-0 lead. Sela kept playing aggressively but the top seed managed to find a breakthrough in the sixth
game to level the score line to 3-3. Nieminen continued the stampede and broke his opponent once again in the 10th game to close out the first set at 6-4. He secured just 12 out of 22 first serve points in the opener but his two cracking break points
proved to be the only decisive factor.
The following set witnessed a steady start from both contenders and no break point was seen in the opening five games. Nieminen shifted his gears and reeled off the last four games to finish the proceedings. He broke his opponent
in the sixth and eighth games, and came out as the winner at 6-2. The top seed clinched 18 out of 24 first serve points, whilst Sela lagged far behind with merely 7 out of 14 points in the second set. The Israeli contender had a break point in the opening
game of the set but couldn’t capitalize on the vital opportunity to finish on the losing side in the end.
Nieminen will face the unseeded surprise contestant, Jan-Lennard Struff, in the semi-final clash of the IPP Open. He registered an upset in the quarter-final round, defeating the fourth seed, Ricardas Berankis, in straight sets
to book a date with the top seed Finn.
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