Marsel Ilhan outplays Thomas Schoorel to reach the main draws – Cincinnati Open 2011
After a stiff contest, the unseeded Turk competitor, Marsel Ilhan, outplayed Thomas Schoorel of Netherlands to qualify for the main round draws of Western and Southern Financial Group Masters on Sunday afternoon.
The competition took place on the outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, United States, with Ilhan winning in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-3 to book a berth in the main draws. Schoorel hung in the matchup for one hour and twenty nine minutes before surrendering in the second set to let his opponent away with victory.
The contest appeared fairly poised throughout, with both men labouring hard to get the better of one another. Although Ilhan delivered just 55 per cent of his serve on target, the Turk secured 32 out of 38 first serve points in the matchup to get take down his opponent convincingly in straight sets. He cashed in three out of is five break opportunities en route to victory, with Schoorel registering merely one break point in the entire matchup to finish on the losing end.
Ilhan made full use of his powerful forehand in the contest and fired a number of assertive winners down the line to exert his supremacy over Schoorel. The Turk conceded limited unforced errors and coughed just two double faults in the matchup to bag a comprehensive victory in the end. He was off to a steady start in the opener but gathered up his pace as the game progressed, driving the Dutch opponent out of the competition with authority.
No serve breaks were witnessed in the opening seven games of the match but Ilhan drew first blood in the eighth game to break into a 5-3 lead. Schoorel retaliated immediately by breaking the Turk serve in the very next game to fritter away his advantage and then held his serve to enforce a tie breaker round at 6-6. The Dutch failed to sustain his momentum in the tie breaker round and crumbled to his opponent’s aggression at 6-7(4).
Ilhan took hold of the second set early with a crucial serve break to lead 3-1. He secured 15 out of 17 first serve points and cracked in his third serve break of the day in the ninth game to seal victory for him at 6-3. Ilhan moves into the opening round of main draws of Cincinnati Masters, where he will face the Bulgarian wildcard entrant, Grigor Dimitrov, for a place in the round two.
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