Marsel Ilhan defeats Borut Puc; advances in the qualies – Hamburg Open 2011
Hamburg clay circuit welcomed 48 top single players and 16 doubles team to one of the 11 ATP World Tour 500 event. Played at the heart of Hamburg, the Rothenbaum tennis center, featuring a retractable roof top with a massive seating
of 13,200 spectators, it is the largest court in Germany. The continuation of the qualifying round of the Bet-at-Home Open in Hamburg saw a breath taking match between Borut Puc, who played the Mercedes Cup last week, against the Turkish tennis star Marsel
Ilhan.
Marcel is currently ranked at 117 on the table having been ranked as high as in the top 100 at one time. Standing at 6’3”, the right handed Turkish athlete has a powerful serve with strong backhands as well. Surprisingly as his
ranking has fallen down 3 places, he has won 7 out of the last 10 matches played. The 24-year-old Turkish also made it to the final of the Scheveningen challenger event but lost to Steve Darcis in a breath taking match.
Challenging the Turkish was Borut Puc who had been struggling in the Mercedes Cup and now had to face a loss in the Hamburg open as well. Failing to qualify for the Mercedes Cup, Borut tried his luck in the Hamburg open. The low
ranked World No. 481 has won 5 out of his last 10 matches. Considering the disparity in the rankings, it was hard to depict a win for the Slovenian.
The match started off with Borut opening for the three-setter and the score card. Levelling the scores in the following game, Ilhan made it 1-1. The match carried on till Ilhan won the first breakpoint of the match leading the
score 3-2. Winning the next game he increased his lead to 4-2 and eventually taking it to 6-4 to win the first set.
Borut Puc once against served first for the second set and gave away the second breakpoint of the match and turning the scoreboards against him. The scores went to 2-0 when Ilhan won the second game of set 2 and made his lead comfortable.
The match then led on to an amazing ending as Borut made the scores level at 6-6. This tiebreaker had a long story to cover. Giving an astonishing ending to the match, the tiebreaker went to 11-10 to lead the Turkish to his win 6-4, 7-6(10).
The tiebreaker was undoubtedly the best part of the match. However, the Croat international could not end the match in his favour. Ilhan now proceeds to the next round to play the local Ivan Navarro.
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