Mate Delic through to the Boys’ Singles semi-final after defeating Miki Jankovic – French Open 2011
Croatian domination kept prevailing at the French Open, as Mate Delic took down Miki Jankovic of Serbia in the quarter-final of the Boys’ singles on Thursday. The Croat took down his opponent in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, in merely
one hour and thirteen minutes of play to get into the final four of the Grand Slam event in Paris, France.
18-year-old Delic beat his opponent in every segment of the contest to reach the semi-finals of Roland Garros. His 66 percent precise first serve earned him 31 out of 44 points to get the competitive edge over his rival in the
contest.
Jankovic had a sloppy beginning to the match and never recovered from the early losses he suffered from the aggressive Croat competitor. The Serb delivered 60 per cent of his first serve on target, firing five aces without conceding
a single double fault in the entire contest. After a sluggish start to the opening set, Jankovic caught up some pace in the following set but it appeared a bit too late to contain the Croatian opponent.
The dominant Croat crafted ten break chances and converted four of them to dispose of Jankovic from the quarter-final of the mega event. The Serb contestant struck merely one out of his five break points to finish on the losing
side in the end.
Delic took hold of the game right from the very first minute, breaking his opponent in the opening game to lead 2-0. He secured 75 per cent of the first serve points in the first set, while his opponent collected just 55 per cent
to remain on the back foot. Jankovic held serve in his next two games before suffering a second crucial serve break from Delic in the seventh game of the opener, with the Croat serving for the set. Delic had no trouble in serving out of the first set at 6-2
and got the upper hand in the game.
Signs of life were finally observed in Jankovic in the second set of the match, as he registered his first serve break to hang in the contest. However, he stood no match for the sheer brilliance of Delic, who struck two serve breaks
in the second set to seal victory for him at 7-5 to advance to the semis of Roland Garros.
Delic will take on the 14th seed Dominic Thiem. Thiem defeated the Spanish qualifier, Oriol Roca Batalla in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, in the quarter-final matchup.
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