Jurgen Melzer slashes Andreas Seppi to reach the quarters – PBZ Zagreb Indoors 2012
Austrian number one, Jurgen Melzer, shocked the fifth seed, Andreas Seppi of Italy, in straight sets at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors 2012 on Wednesday. He registered a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the 27-year-old Italian to book a spot in the final eight at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Zagreb, Croatia.
Reaching at his career best rank at number eight last year, Melzer reignited his spark at this hard court event and got the best of Seppi in their seventh meeting. He not only remained on course to reach the top-10 again but also took lead in the FedEx ATP head2head series by 4-3 against the Italian.
"I need to play matches before Davis Cup, to gain confidence," said the Austrian after the match. "In the first two qualification rounds, I was still jet-lagged having come from Australia on Wednesday night. It was a very good decision to come here to play, as I'd only be training back in Vienna. I am very happy with the way I am playing at the moment, not quite as I was in 2010, but I don't think you should compare."
The left-handed Austrian stormed into the opening set and wiped out the first three games in a row before Seppi could hold on. Later, he held remaining serves convincingly and capitalised on another break opportunity in the last game to bag the opener with a 6-2 success.
The 30-year-old lost his momentum into the last set and suffered the first blow in the third game. However, he quickly counterattacked by snatching his break back in the very next game. Melzer then maintained consistency in his game and cashed in another break chance in the end to clinch the set with a 6-3 score line.
The Austrian came through qualifiers at Dom Sportova without losing a set. After earning this straight set victory, he assertively advanced into the quarter-finals to face the German rising star, Michael Berrer, who stunned the top seed, Ivan Ljubicic, in straight sets to reach this spot.
Seventh seed, Robin Haase, however, faced a better fate. He rallied past Germany’s Matthias Bachinger in a three set thriller to secure this place. Dutch number one lost his serve four times and spilled more errors and double faults. On the hand, he converted four out of seven break chances to his advantage and registered a 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 success in almost two hours.
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