Lukas Lacko rallies past Dzmitry Zhyrmont in the quarter-final clash – IPP Open 2012 CH
Second seeded Slovak contender, Lukas Lacko, carried on with his stunning run of form at the IPP Open and rocketed into the semi-final round of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Helsinki, Finland. The 25-year-old spent barely 51
minutes to put aside the bleak resistance from the 314 ranked Belarusian, Dzmitry Zhyrmont, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
It was a completely one-sided contest, with the world number 53 dominating the proceedings all the way. He adopted his usual aggressive strategy and kept launching frequent forays upon his opponent, eventually forcing him to submit
in the second set. The Slovak winner spared merely three games for his rival in the entire matchup and convincingly qualified for the semi-final rounds of the tournament.
The opening set commenced with a break point from Lacko and situation got even worse when he nailed another breakthrough in the fifth game to impose a 4-1 commanding lead. The second seeded Slovak registered his third break point
of the day in the seventh game and closed out the first set with a breadstick, 6-1.
Zhyrmont managed to hold his opening two serves in the following set but again it was Lacko who was dictating the contest. He broke the Belarusian serve two times in succession, in the sixth and eighth games respectively, and marked
an end to Zhyrmont’s voyage in Helsinki. Lacko finished off the match at 6-2 and got one step closer to earn a title shot at IPP Open.
Lacko’s serve was his critical success factor in the match. He delivered 58 per cent of his first serve on target and dropped merely one point on it, bagging 17 out of 18. He crafted a total of 10 break opportunities in the contest
but only five conversions proved sufficient to record the assertive score line for him. On the other hand, Zhyrmont could not even go near to break the Slovak’s serve and coughed four double faults on the most crucial moments of the match. A total of 81 points
were played in the contest, with Lacko winning 55 and Zhyrmont lagging far behind with barely 26 points in his pocket.
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