Lukas Lacko prevailed over Ivan Dodig in the semi-finals – Tashkent Challenger 2012 CH
Top seeded, Lukas Lacko, took the better of the Croatian native, Ivan Dodig, in the semi-final of the Tashkent Challenger 2012 held at the hard courts of Plexipave, Uzbekistan. The Slovakian professional nudged up and penned down
his straight sets 6-4, 7-6(4) win on the eve of Saturday in nearly two hours.
The higher ranked Lacko commenced a classic start in the initial set and clinched the opening two games without facing any hindrance. He confidently drew the first blood and secured the first two games, marking a 2-love lead right
away. Lacko served superbly and did not drop his serve till the end. He skilfully blew away his rival and claimed the opener with a 6-4 score line.
The world number 59, Lacko had a lower initial serve of 46 percent but converted 10 of 12 first and 10 of 14 second delivery points. His challenger secured the lead by firing two aces in response and had a better initial serve
precision of 71 percent, with 16 of 22 first and four of nine second delivery points.
The 27-year-old Croatian professional assertively served in the following set, irrespective of his former loss. Nonetheless, he was ready to provide his challenger a tough deal. The two contenders battled hard and smoothly brushed
away all the serve breaks in the set and repeatedly levelled down the score line after every alternate game. The Slovakian preserved his intensity and bagged away all the crucial points, terminating the game with a 7-6(4) score after a tiebreaker round.
The fifth seeded Croatian participant struggled hard to prevail over his rival and fired his competitor with 15 aces and a reasonable first serve accuracy of 52 percent. He attained 22 of 27 first and 11 of 25 second delivery points.
He lost the lead because he not capable to pocket away even a single serve break of the five present. The 24-year-old, Lacko, had 66 percent initial serve with 26 of 31 first and seven of 16 second serve points.
Tags: