Jarkko Nieminen crushes Lukas Lacko to enter round two – Power Horse Cup 2013
Finn number one, Jarkko Nieminen, breezed past the Slovakian challenger, Lukas Lacko, with a breadstick at the Power Horse Cup 2013 on Monday. He penned down a 6-3, 6-1 victory against the Slovak to progress into the second round
at this final clay court tournament before Roland Garros taking place in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Seeded sixth at this event, Nieminen stayed on track to bid for his maiden clay court title at the Rochusclub. The Finn required one hour and 16 minutes pocketing the match against Lacko in their first encounter.
"I feel good. I think I'm playing well. I think I played tactically pretty smart. It's really heavy conditions. I'm sure it wasn't my opponent's favourite conditions to play in, nor was it my favourite. You have to be patient,
build up the points really well and not go for the winners too early," the Finn was quoted in a courtside interview after bagging the match.
Nieminen made a convincing start in the opening set, as he broke his rival’s opening serve to jump to a 2-0 lead. Regardless of losing his serve in the very next game, the Finn capitalised on another break chance and leaped to
a 4-1 lead. He held his remaining serves with poise and eventually sealed the opener by winning six games to three.
Ranked 42nd in the Emirates Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Nieminen maintained his intensity in the following set. He got the desiderated break in the opening game and took the initial lead. After Lacko held his serve
in the third game, the Finn unleashed his skills and eventually clinched the set with a breadstick.
The seeded contender clobbered a better first serve share of 73 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 53 per cent and amazingly marked 28 out of 43 points on it. He spilled fewer errors and with the help of a single ace, the Finn
stole the show. Nieminen eventually ended the battle with 69 points.
Next in line for Nieminen is the Spanish contestant, Roberto Bautista Agut, who bounced back to record a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory against Gilles Muller.
On another court, Tobias Kamke outclassed Benjamin Becker in an all-German clash. The winning German jolted down a 6-3, 6-2 victory against his compatriot to book a place in the second round. He will square off against the winner
of the match between eighth seeded Nikolay Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov.
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