John Patrick Smith floors Adam Mihdawy to move into second round – Tulsa Challenger 2011
Wild Card entrant John Patrick Smith came back and held his nerves in a nail biting encounter against Adam El Mihdawy of United States 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-4 on Monday to advance into the second round of 2011 Tulsa Challenger tournament
here in Oklahoma, United States.
Unseeded at the Association of Tennis Professionals Challenger event, Smith looked in control of the match in the opening set. However, he was pushed to his limits in the second set by his rival as the match went into a decider.
Regrouping himself, the Australian tennis pro showed remarkable fighting spirit and determination in the final set to seal a memorable victory in a match that lasted for 2 hours and 8 minutes.
Looking to pressurise his opponent right from the beginning, Smith made a solid start to the match. Breaking the serve early, he put himself in the driving seat. Playing his natural game freely, he smashed his ferocious forehand
and backhand winners both down the line and cross court. Playing in a well disguised and well placed drop shot with a 5-1, he set up three match points for himself. Converting the first one with a blistering serve ace, he took the opening set in blink of an
eye.
Mihdawy made too many unforced errors in the set and he eventually paid the price. His inability to hit winners from the baseline proved to be the main difference between the contestants in the first set.
Looking to stay in the match, Mihdawy started the second on a very confident note as he managed to hold on to his first few service games with ease. Although he was broken in one of the games, he broke straight back to force his
opponent surrender the game score. After both players refused to give up, the set went into a tie-breaker.
Out of nowhere, Mihdawy clinched four straight points in the tie-breaker to even the set score. In the final set, Smith raised the level of his game play and he broke the serve at regular intervals, Leading the game score 4-3 on
serve receiving, he broke Smith to take a crucial 5-3 lead. Holding on to his next service game, he completed a marathon three set victory to book his place in the next round of the competition.
Smith was pleased with the way he conducted himself on the court. His confidence and composure was admirable and he was the more offensive of the two players throughout the match.
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