Lukas Rosol edges Bjorn Phau to capture title – Slovak Open 2012 CH
Fourth seed, Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol, fought back after losing the opener to beat the third seeded player from Germany, Bjorn Phau, in the Slovak Open final in Bratislava.
All three sets of this match were decided on tie-breakers. Rosol lost the opener but was successful in the following two, winning it 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 7-6(6) to claim the title.
There was not a single break of serve from start to finish in the opening set, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Rosol started it with a 2-0 lead but it was Phau who completely dominated afterwards, as
he grabbed seven of the next eight points to triumph 7-6(3).
Phau faced three straight break points in the opening game of the second set, as he went down 0-40 but he saved all three of them. The German contender put away two more later on to hold his serve and avoid an early trail. He was
again under pressure on his serve in the ninth game but he put away three more threats. The score got levelled at 6-6 and it was taken to a tie-breaker, where Rosol claimed a late mini-break to seal it 7-6(5).
The Czech player could not carry the winning momentum into the final set, losing his serve in the very first game and also failing to pull it back in the following one to go down 0-2. There was no strike by either of the two players
in the subsequent seven games, taking the score to 5-4 in favour of Phau. The German had that golden opportunity to serve out the match but he was unable to capitalise on it, taking the score to 5-5. The following two went again with serves, squaring it off
at 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. Rosol attained lead at the start, moving ahead 3-1 but Phau clawed his way back to even it out a 5-5. The German national faced a match point on his own serve at 6-7 and could not evade that, going down 6-7(6).
Rosol made the biggest upset of this season, when he stunned Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships.
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