Mardy Fish through to semi-finals of Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
Second seed Mardy Fish carried on his brilliant run at the Delray Beach International Championships as he outplayed the Columbian qualifier, Alejandro Falla in the quarterfinal on Friday night.
Fish wrapped up the match in 87 minutes, defeating Falla by 6-1, 6-4 to move on to the semi-finals of the tournament.
The world number 16 exhibited a great show of tennis to qualify for a second straight quarterfinal in the 2011 season. Fish appeared too strong for the Columbian to overcome. His serve was on spot and his defence was rock solid. An overall brilliant effort
from the second seed brought him out as the winner.
Falla was slightly better than his opponent in the first serve statistics. The Columbian delivered 60 per cent of his first serves on target while Fish managed 56 per cent.
The American was far better than his opponent in other segments of the game. Fish converted 70 per cent of the total serve points while his opponent bagged 55 per cent.
Although Fish was the winner of the match, the second seed squandered plenty of opportunities. He could only convert 3 out of 11 break point chances he received.
Fish faced no such difficulties in the first set. His rival lost his nerve from the beginning and hit a lot of errant strokes. It was forecasted before the match that the left-hander Falla’s angling serve could be the point of worry for his opponent but
it went the other way round.
The second seed was quick to get the better of his opponent. An early double break for Fish put him in an astounding lead of 5-1. His crosscourt strokes created great troubles for Falla who was unable to cut down the angles of Fish’s shots. Fish won 33 out
of 53 total points in the first set to seal the opener 6-1.
The opener followed a low-serve second set, with both men serving with only 50 per cent accuracy. A lot more aggression was observed in Falla’s game in the set but he coughed four double-faults in the process. However, the Columbian did not allow his American
opponent to break serve as often as he did in the first set.
Fish was bestowed with seven serve break chances but the American converted only one out of it, which proved sufficient for him to close the second set and register a win at 6-4.
The second seed’s overall performance was quite satisfying in the game but he should be looking to convert as many opportunities as possible during the matches if he wants to win the title.
Mardy Fish will be taking on the Argentine wildcard, Juan Martin del Potro who is in prime form after recovering from his wrist injury. Del Potro defeated his quarterfinal opponent Kevin Anderson in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) later in the evening to make it
to the semi-finals.
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