Marius Copil surprises Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in final qualies – If Stockholm Open 2011
Another surprising outcome was seen in the qualifying draw of the If Stockholm Open on Monday, as the fifth seeded German, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, lost to the unseeded Romanian contestant, Marius Copil, to crash out of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The contest was played on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm, Sweden, with Copil registering victory in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, to move into the main draw of the If Stockholm Open. The fifth seeded German hung in the contest for merely one hour and thirty nine minutes of play before submitting in the second set to let Copil away with a surprise victory.
Copil, who is just 1-2 in the World Tour-level matches this season, played brilliant error-free tennis to outplay the fifth seeded German. He took the better of his opponent in every segment of the game and cashed in vital opportunities in the matchup to come out as the winner in the end.
The Romanian delivered 62 per cent of his serve on target and reeled off 34 out of 45 first serve points in the matchup. He crafted a total of 10 break opportunities in the contest but only three conversions proved sufficient for him to seal victory in style.
Stebe has been in a brilliant form in his early round matches in the qualifying draw but failed to put up a decent performance on Monday. The German strained extremely hard to remain alive in the competition but it was the sheer brilliance of his opponent which never let him on top of the game at any point of the competition. Stebe registered merely one break point in the entire matchup, frittering away five precious chances to stay at a disadvantage throughout the game.
Both men were off to a cautious start in the opening set, getting settled in the game earlier on. No serve breaks were seen in the opening nine games of the match but Copil finally came up with one in the 10th game to seal the first set at 6-4. The Romanian continued with his momentum in the second set as well, breaking Stebe in the eighth game again to lead 5-3. The German replied with a break point conversion but Copil nailed another one in the 12th game to finish off the proceedings at 7-5.
Copil will go one-on-one against the unseeded competitor from Finland, Jarkko Nieminen, in his opening match in the main rounds of the If Stockholm Open.
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