Jesse Levine edges past Robby Ginepri into the main draw – Citi Open 2012
Second seed, Jesse Levine of USA, fought back after losing the first set to beat his 207th ranked compatriot, Robby Ginepri, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in the final round of the qualifying draw at the Citi Open in Washington,
USA on Sunday.
The world number 89 needed two hours and four minutes to oust his countryman in a hard fought contest.
Ginepri was first to take lead, as he grabbed opening three games to attain a 3-0 lead. The American contestant did not lose any of his serves till the end, capturing the opener at 6-3.
The 29-year-old banged in three aces and did not commit any double fault, maintaining a first serve percentage of 64 and winning 14 of the 16 points on them. On the other hand, Levine did not hit any ace and made three double faults.
The American failed to respond properly to Ginepri’s fiery serves, losing 14 of the 16 first and six of the nine second return points. Levine failed to save the only break point he faced and did not receive even a single one in the opener.
Ginepri and Levine held their serves in the opening three games of the second set to take the score to 2-1 in favour of the American. The 24-year-old hit a blow to his opponent in the fourth game to go up 3-1 but lost the following
two, levelling the score at 3-3. However, Ginepri’s effort went in vain, as Levine captured three games in a row after that to win 6-3.
The Ottawa, Canada resident smacked one ace and committed the same number of double fault in the second set. He gave a satisfactory performance on serve, keeping the first delivery percentage at 55 and converting 11 of the 17 of
them into points. Nevertheless, the left-hander gave a decent showing on the replies to his opponent’s serves, as he claimed four of the 10 first and six of the 11 second return points. The 5ft 9in tall utilised both the break opportunities he created.
In the final set, Levine and Ginepri served extraordinarily, as they did not lose their serve even once till the end, squaring off the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Both of them went on equal terms till 2-2 but then
Levine clinched three straight points to take a 5-2 advantage. He made the most of his lead to triumph 7-6(5).
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