Matthias Bachinger rallies past Karol Beck to reach the final – Challenger of Granby 2011 CH
Second seed German competitor, Matthias Bachinger, went through tough times before eventually beating the fourth seed Karol Beck of Slovakia in the semi-final encounter of the National Bank’s Challenger of Granby, on Saturday afternoon.
Being played at Granby, Canada, the three-set thriller exhibited quality tennis from both of the top seeded players. Bachinger toiled hard to take down the belligerent Slovak at 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, in two hours and eight minutes of
sweating play to get a title shot in the final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour tournament.
A number of momentum swaps were observed in the matchup, with the German finally taking the better of his opponent in the third set. Beck fought valiantly after suffering an early set loss but tend to crumble in the last moments
of play to let his opponent away with victory.
Second seeded Bachinger served with 55 per cent accuracy in the opening set but brilliantly reeled off 14 out of 16 first serve points to keep on top of the game. Five thudding aces from the German’s racquet and four double faults
from Beck bestowed some easy points to Bachinger, assisting him to sting two consecutive serve breaks in the opener. The Slovak competitor had five break opportunities in the first set but he squandered away all of them to remain on the back foot in the contest.
Beck held serve in merely one game in the opening set before submitting it to the hard-hitting German at 1-6. The fourth seeded Slovak made a tremendous come back in the following set, clinching 18 first serve points and a little
assistance from Bachinger, who played a number of misplaced strokes to commit unforced errors. Beck registered his first serve break of the day to seal the second set at 6-3, levelling the matchup with one set a piece and enforcing a third set in the game.
Tide turned once again in the final set, with Bachinger firing back at Beck to push him out of the competition. One serve break from the German proved sufficient to reach the match point and Bachinger sealed victory at 6-4, as
Beck thumped a backhand stroke into the net. His win over the Slovak sends him into the final of the National Bank’s Challenger of Granby, where he will square against the sixth seed, Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, for the championship title. The French
stood victorious against his seventh seeded fellow compatriot, Arnaud Clement, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the semi-final clash on Saturday.
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