Matthew Ebden downs Dudi Sela in the opening round – SAP Open 2012
Australian contender, Matthew Ebden, overpowered the Israeli competitor, Dudi Sela, in troublesome three sets at the SAP Open 2012 on Wednesday. He clobbered a 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-6(1) score line over the Tel Aviv resident and booked a
second round spot at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place from February 13th to February 19th.
Making his debut at this hard court tournament, Ebden stayed on course to bid his maiden career title after ousting the Israeli in their first meeting. The Aussie required two and a half hours to advance into the round of 16 and took
lead in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series by 1-0 against Sela.
The Israeli veteran high spiritedly entered the HP Pavilion and drew the first blood in the fifth game. In spite of levelling the scores at 5-5, Sela prevailed in it and clinched the opening set with a 7-6(7) success.
After the 26-year-old held his opening serve of the second set, Ebden unleashed barrage of forehands and went on a five games tear. The Aussie then held his serve once more and bagged the equaliser by winning six games to two. He was
never threatened with any breakpoint and cashed in two out of four break chances.
Ranked 88th in the South African Airways ATP World Rankings, Ebden lost his way again in the final set and suffered the first blow in the second game. Regardless of recovering in the very next game, he lost his serve again
in the third game and trailed at 1-2. However, the Aussie re-focused after this and not only snatched the break back but dragged the set to a tie-breaker after keeping remaining serves. Ebden dominated in it and eventually won the decider with a 7-6(1) score
line.
Overall, the Durban-born outshined his opponent in every department of tennis. He smacked seven aces, formulated a better first serve share and brilliantly clicked 52 out of 73 points on it. Ebden committed fewer unforced errors as
compared to the Israeli and finished the match with 126 points.
Next challenge for the Australian rising star is the sixth seed, Kevin Anderson, who also bounced from a set down to outclass his opponent, Grigor Dimitrov. The South African number one lost his serve twice in the opening set but managed
to overpower Dimitrov without breaking his serve. He prevailed in the second and last set's tiebreakers to seal the deal with 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) victory in almost two and half hours.
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