Matthew Ebden comes from behind to outshine James Blake in round two – BB&T Atlanta Open 2012
Australian challenger, Matthew Ebden, bounced back to triumph over the local veteran, James Blake, in a three-set mouth-watering match at the BB&T Atlanta Open 2012 on Thursday. He notched a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4 victory against the 32-year-old to secure a place
in the quarter-final at this outdoor hard court tournament taking place in Georgia, United States.
Ebden needed two hours and five minutes to dump the local contender in their first duel against each other. As a result, the Aussie assertively entered the final eight where Latvia’s Gilles Muller awaits.
The former world number four, Blake made a slow start at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event and suffered the first blow in the fourth game to fall at 1-4. However, he snatched his break back in the seventh game and
swiped his remaining serves to take the set to a tie-breaker. The American dominated in it and clicked the opener with a 7-6(6) win.
Ebden rebounded in the follow-up set and plucked his entire serves without encountering any breakpoint. He capitalised on one out of two break chances in the seventh game and sealed the equaliser by winning six games to four.
Ranked 82nd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Ebden kept momentum running in the final set. He endured the initial loss in the sixth game but stroke out the last four games in a row, ultimately clinching the decider with a
6-4 score line.
Summing up the Durban-born performance, Ebden fired 20 aces to steal the show. He spilled more double faults and clobbered a slightly lower first serve share of 55 per cent as opposed to his opponent’s 57 per cent. However, the Aussie amazingly availed 43
out of 49 points on it and sealed the deal with 111 points.
Next in queue for Ebden is the Latvian challenger, Gilles Muller, who record a 6-4, 3-2 retirement victory against second seeded Mardy Fish.
Later that day, Jack Sock formulated a 7-6(5), 7-6(5) victory against his wildcard compatriot, Steve Johnson, to progress at this event. He failed to capitalise on any break chance but showed his class in both tie-breakers.
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