Josselin Ouanna outlasts Egor Gerasimov to enter quarters – Siberia Cup 2012 CH
Second seed, Josselin Ouanna of France, rallied past the Belarusian qualifier, Egor Gerasimov, in a three-set thriller at the Siberia Cup 2012 on Thursday. He juggled up a 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 victory against the world number 534 to power into the quarter-finals
at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place in Tyumen, Russia.
The seeded French lost his serve in the 11th game of the second set and equalised the set scores. However, he went berserk after that and carved out the victory with a breadstick. After ruling in this one hour and 22-minute venture, Ouanna booked
a spot in the last eight.
Ouanna made a convincing entry at this indoor hard court tournament. He smoothly held his entire serves and after getting the breakthrough in the last game, the French pulled out the opener with a 6-4 score line. He swiftly bagged his entire serves without
facing any barrier and converted one out of five break chances to his advantage.
The 20-year-old re-structured in the following set. He slid his entire serves without facing any barrier and required a single break of serve in the second last game, eventually sealing the equaliser by winning seven games to five. Gerasimov cashed the lone
break chance to get back in contention.
Ranked 124th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Ouanna sought his momentum again in the final set. After Gerasimov plucked his serve in the second game, the French unleashed flurry of groundstrokes and reeled off five games
in a row. He was challenged with any breakpoint and capitalised on two out of four break chances to steal the spotlight.
All in all, Ouanna hammered 11 aces and clobbered a better first serve share of 68 per cent as compared to his rival’s 62 per cent. He brilliantly marked 43 out of 48 points on it and finished the deal with 98 points.
Next in line for Ouanna is the fifth seeded Illya Marchenko who registered a 6-5 retirement victory against the Georgian contender, Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Ukrainian lost his serve twice but cashed three out of nine break chances to prevail in this hour-long
marathon.
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