Marko Lenz rallies past Victor Baluda into the second qualifier – Marburg Open 2012 CH
World number 631, Marko Lenz of Germany, came back after getting thrashed in the first set to upset Russia’s Victor Baluda, ranked 370th in the world, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the qualifying draw at the Marburg
Open in Germany on Saturday. The German took an hour and 58 minutes to get past his Russian opponent in a tough clash.
Lenz and Baluda ignited the contest by winning their serves in the first two games to square off the score at 1-1. The Russian made the initial breakthrough in the third and consolidated on it to attain a 3-1 lead. He struck again
in the seventh and made the most of it to win 6-2.
Baluda smacked a couple of aces but also made one double fault in the first set. He performed exceptionally well on his serves, keeping the first delivery percentage on 71 and winning amazingly all the 12 points on them. The Russian
also did a good job on the second ones, securing four of the five. Baluda did not come across any break threat and availed two of the eight chances he created.
The Russian was looking to end the match quickly, as he snatched a break in the very first game of the second set and held his next serve to build a 2-0 advantage. He sustained his lead till 3-1 but Lenz made a stunning turnaround
afterwards, as he captured five in a row, breaking his opponent twice and holding all of his own serves to seal the second set 6-3.
The German banged in three aces and committed just one double fault, putting in 52 percent of the first serves and pocketing 13 of the 17 points on them. He also performed fairly well on the replies to his opponent’s deliveries,
converting five of the 11 first and seven of the 13 second returns into points in the second set.
The start of the final set was exactly similar to the first one, as both players held their serve in the opening two games, equalling the score at 1-1. However, it was Lenz who made the breakthrough this time, hitting a blow to
the Russian in the third and winning his following serve to move ahead 3-1. The German maintained his advantage till the end of the proceedings, sealing it 6-4.
Lenz will play either Russia’s Adrian Sikora or Divij Sharan of India in the second qualifier.
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