<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Karol Beck overcomes Martin Fischer to reach the semis – Salzburg Indoors 2011 CH</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Martin Fischer’s brilliant run at the Salzburg Indoors finally came to a halt when he was defeated by the top seeded Slovakian, Karol Beck, in the quarter-final round on Friday afternoon. Beck registered victory in three sets, 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, to book a place in the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Being played on the hard courts of Salzburg, Austria, the contest took two hours and eighteen minutes to conclude, with the top seed coming out as the winner. The contest featured an amazing turnaround by Beck, who appeared in a terrible condition in the opening set. The Slovak fell on his back foot after dropping the first set but regrouped immediately to clinch the second set tie breaker. Once getting his winning momentum, Beck went on to pocket the final set as well, charging his way to the final four of the tournament.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The contest remained evenly poised throughout, with both contestants toiling extremely hard to get hold of the game. Fischer bettered his opponent in most segments of the game but it only was the matter of time that Beck clinched crucial points in the contest to take him down. He delivered 63 per cent of his serve on target, securing 40 out of 60 first serve points, whereas Beck followed him with 34 out of 53 points in the matchup.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The Austrian wildcard was off to a flying start in the opener, nailing two serve breaks right up to race away to 5-0 in no time. Stunned top seed was left with no option but to submit the first set to his opponent at 1-6. More action was seen in the following set, with both men trading two break points apiece to drag the set into a tie breaker round. Beck made good use of the opportunity in the decider to bounce back in the match and then carried on with his momentum to break Fischer in the beginning of the final set. Beck held his lead till the conclusion of the match at 6-4, disposing of Fischer from the competition in a convincing manner.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Beck will take on the seventh seeded Slovenian competitor, Grega Zemlja, in the round of four to fight for a title shot in the final of the Salzburg Indoors. Zemlja registered a quarter-final victory against the German, Bjorn Phau, in the similar fashion as Beck did, taking down his opponent in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the semi-final draw.</p>
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