Mardy Fish downs Ivan Ljubicic in the second round of Internazionali BNL d’Italia
American number one Mardy Fish, ranked 11th in the world, battled past world number 39 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in three sets 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia at Foro Italico in Rome on Wednesday. The marathon contest lasted for two hours and 58 minutes.
In the first set, none of the two players was able to break other’s serve in the first 12 games, equalizing the score at 6-6 and taking the set to a tie-break. Fish crushed the Croatian in the tie-break, allowing him to win just two points and grabbing it 7-2.
The American hit three aces and 61 percent of the first deliveries, capturing 83 percent of the points on them in the first set. On the other hand, Ljubicic fired seven aces but the Croatian failed to impress with his first serve percentage, delivering just 56 percent of the first serves and winning 75 percent of the points on them. The six feet and four inches tall could not save both break points he faced in the first set.
Fish and Ljubicic exchanged two breaks of serve in the first ten games of the second set to tie the score at 5-5. Serving to stay in the set at 5-6, Fish failed to hold his serve and lost the set 5-7.
Ljubicic managed to hit a couple of aces and 57 percent of the first serves in the opening set, sealing 65 percent of the points on them. The Croatian converted 26 percent of the first returns into points in the second set. While, Fish retuned better than his opponent as he won 35 percent of the first return points. The American capitalized on two of the five break point opportunities on Ljubicic’s serve but failed to save three of the eight break points on his own serve in the second set.
After winning a tough second set, the Croatian seemed to run out of steam and was broken twice in the third set, losing it 2-6.
Fish delivered three aces and 63 percent of the first serves in the deciding set. The right-handed’s main strength was his first serve conversion rate as he converted a whopping 83 percent of the first serves into points in the final set. On the other hand, Ljubicic continued to suffer with his low first serve percentage as he managed to hit just 54 percent of the first serves. The Croatian lost two of the three break points he faced in the third set.
Fish is slated to play another Croatian Marin Cilic, placed at 23rd position in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, in the round of 16. Cilic cruised past world number 72 Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.
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