Lukas Rosol stuns Lukasz Kubot in opening round – Serbia Open 2012
Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol shocked the fifth seed, Lukasz Kubot, in straight sets at the Serbia Open 2012, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Belgrade. He jolted down a 7-5, 6-2 victory against the
world number 50 to secure a place in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
Rosol played his best tennis to outclass the Polish star at the SRPC Milan Gale Muskatirovic. As a result, the Czech surprisingly progressed into the pre-quarters round.
The 26-year-old assertively stepped on the Serbian dirt and held his opening serve to tie the scores at 1-1. He then held his nerves and plucked remaining serves without encountering any breakpoint. Rosol got the breakthrough in the second last game and
clicked the opener by winning seven games to five.
Ranked 79th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Rosol kept momentum running into the following set. After Kubot kept his serve in the opening game, the enthusiastic Czech unleashed his true form and went on a five-game tear.
He then held his serve once more and swiped in the set with a 6-2 score line.
Summing up the underdog’s performance, Rosol held his entire serves without facing any barrier. He also sought 12 break opportunities and availed three of them. The Czech produced a lower first serve share of 62 per cent as compared to the seed’s 66 per
cent but spectacularly marked 27 out of 28 points on it.
Next challenge for Rosol is the Romanian star, Victor Hanescu, who battled the Spanish qualifier, Carlos Gomez-Herrera, in a three-set thriller to occupy this position. The veteran amazingly warded off nine out of 10 breakpoints he faced and capitalised
on four out of 11 break opportunities to formulate a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 score line.
The French rising star, Benoit Paire, also registered an upset victory later that day. He stunned the sixth seed, Fabio Fognini of Italy, with a breadstick in 61 minutes. Pair was broken down once but broke the seed’s serve four times to pull out the victory
with a 6-1, 6-4 success. He struck 11 aces and amazingly availed 28 out of 35 points on his first serve share to earn the limelight.
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