Marc Gicquel surpasses Lukas Rosol into the semis – San Marino CEPU Open 2011 CH
Marc Gicquel, French world No.103 juggled his quarter-final win over the Czech, Lukas Rosol, beating him 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, after going down in the first set. The San Marino CEPU Open 2011 mixed up much worse as most of the top rankers
washed out early in the event. The red-clay circuit however proved lucky for those who had been in practice on the clay.
Marc Gicquel, aged 34, pulled off a crucial win in the quarter-final match against the Czech. The 34-year-old has been struggling as his ranking dropped down considerably low. The former world No.37 certainly needs a win to regain
his position in the rankings however, a challenger win might not boost up his ranking that much.
On the contrary, the Czech though a set up in the start went down crashing in the next two. Previously, the two had a 1-1 head-to-head record; however, the French oldster rules the rivalry. This is the first time the two met in
any quarter-final round.
Starting up with the quarter-final, Rosol served to open the first set and rolled the scorecard, 1-0. Gicquel followed to level the score in the next game and later on at 2-2 in game 4. The Czech took the lead when he served in
game 5 winning the set and broke the French on his serve. The 26-year-old increased his lead to 5-2 after game 7. Gicquel managed to pull one back but finally lost the set 6-3.
The higher ranked Frenchman was stunning in the first set. With a 61 percent first serve accuracy and out of which he won 100 percent points, Rosol kept an equally good return percentage and took over the set with 21 service points
and 11 returners totalling 32 points.
However, the tables turned soon for the Frenchman as he thrashed the Czech 26-year-old with a similar beating of the first set. Serving first Gicquel did lose a breakpoint and further dropped down 2 games, however, the 34-year-old
pulled back sensational. Winning 5 back-to-back games, including 2 breakpoints, the French now led the second set 5-2 leading to his eventual win 2 sets after, 6-3.
The match has now gone into a crucial decider. Although both players seemed equally strong, however, the Frenchman domination continued in the final set as well. Breaking the 26-year-old in game 3 was enough to jog on to a 6-4
win in the final set.
Gicquel took away the decider along with the match with an astonishing and unpredictable comeback winning his way to the semi-final of the San Marino CEPU Open. However, the 34-year-old has a tough spot to defend this time as he
faces Martin Klizan, the Slovakian for the final round battle.
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