Jurgen Zopp outshines Raven Klaasen to move into title match – Tashkent Challenger 2011
Estonian tennis pro Jurgen Zopp defeated Raven Klaasen of Russia 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to book his place in the final of 2011 Tashkent Challenger series here in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Zopp, who was unseeded at the tournament, has been doing wonder since the start of this week. Ranked 170th in the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking, the Estonian ousted top seeded players in his previous matches to reach that far at the challengers’ tournament. He will be extremely content with the things have went for him so far.
However the real challenge lies ahead in the final, where he will be facing even a tougher opponent under more pressure. Still very new to the ATP arena, Zopp is still inexperienced at the highest level. He will be looking to looking to continue his impressive run for just another day to lift his first ever ATP title. However, he must not get carried away by the situation and hit every ball on its merit.
Converting 84 per cent of the points on his first serve, he was strong and accurate on his service games. Saving all three break points in the match against himself, his defence was also formidable. Converting opportunities, the 23-year-old was able to come up with a break of serve, when it was required. Staying in the rallies right till the end, he was up for the challenge. Zopp, however, should try to get more of those first serves in if he wants to be in his comfort zone against the finalist on Saturday.
Zopp made a great start to the match. Dropping only three points on his first four service games, he took a very tricky 4-3 lead. Breaking the deadlock in next game, he made his first serve break of the match, serving for the set. Showing no signs of nerves, he secured his next service game to take the set score lead 1-0. A similar pattern was observed in the second set. Zopp held on to his service games quite comfortably and he broke the serve for the second time in the match to seal a straight sets victory.
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