Lukasz Kubot ousts Lukas Lacko in the opening round – Swiss Indoors Basel 2012
Ranked 67th in the world, Lukasz Kubot of Poland staged a minor upset by beating the world number 52 from Slovakia, Lukas Lacko, in twin sets 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel.
The Polish contestant needed one hour and 23 minutes to register this close win over his Slovakian opponent.
Kubot and Lacko did not allow each other to break serve in the first five games and took the score to 3-2 in favour of the Polish player. Kubot managed to capture a breakthrough in the sixth and consolidated on it to take a 5-3
lead. Lacko pulled it back in the eighth game to bring back the proceedings on serve but he lost his own in the next one to lose 4-6.
Both players hit a single ace and made the same number of double faults in the first set. Kubot maintained a first serve percentage of 50 and claimed 11 of the 14 points on them. In comparison, Lacko had a better first delivery
percentage of 55 but he succeeded in winning just 10 of the 16 points.
In the second set, Kubot and Lacko held their opening serves to level the score at 1-1. Lacko nailed a break in the third to attain a 2-1 lead but Kubot did not take much time to even out the proceedings at 2-2. The next five games
went with serve, taking the score to 5-4 in favour of Kubot. The Polish participant raised the level of his play at that moment, breaking Lacko to win 6-4.
Kubot’s serve statistics were brilliant, be it first or second deliveries. The Polish national banged in three aces and 77 percent of the first serves. The 6ft 3in tall had a remarkable conversion rate, pocketing 13 of the 17 first
and four of the five second delivery points. The right-hander could not save the only break threat he came across but made amendments by utilising both opportunities he got in the second set.
The Polish contender will either play Italy’s Andreas Seppi or Benoit Paire of France in the second round.
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