Michael Lammer stuns Mikhail Youzhny in the first round – Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel 2011
World number 37, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, continued with his hard luck in the season, as he bowed out to the 327th ranked Swiss qualifier, Michael Lammer, in a humiliating manner in the opening round of the Davidoff
Swiss Indoors Basel on Tuesday evening.
The unseeded Russian was completely outplayed by Lammer, who wrapped up victory in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, to move in to the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 event. Youzhny hung in the
contest for merely 59 minutes before submitting to the fury of his Swiss opponent in the second set, suffering his 23rd defeat of the running season.
The contest was played on the indoor hard courts of the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, with Lammer living up to the expectations of the local crowd. The Swiss appeared absolutely unplayable in the competition and gave no
opportunity to Youzhny to get settled in the match. It was Lammer’s first World Tour-level victory of the running season and a much needed one as well.
29-year-old Swiss veteran dropped just six points on his first serve, clinching 24 out of 30, to come out as the winner. Lammer took the better of his Russian opponent in every segment of the game and never lost control of the
momentum he generated right from the beginning. He converted four out of five break opportunities en route to victory, with Youzhny registering merely one break of serve in the entire matchup to finish on the losing side.
Youzhny received the first jolt of the day in the very first game of the match, when Lammer broke his serve to lead 2-0 early in the contest. The Russian broke his opponent in the fourth game, only to be broken in the immediately
to fall on his back foot once again. Lammer held his lead to finish off the first set at 6-4 and got the upper hand in the contest. The Swiss nailed two crushing breaks of serve in the third and the ninth game of the following set and cruised away to victory
without any real trouble.
Lammer will face the unseeded Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, in the second round to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of the Davidoff Swiss Indoor Basel. Baghdatis made a huge upset in the opening round, when he outplayed the
eighth seed Serbian, Viktor Troicki, in three sets 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-2, to make a place in the round of 16 on Monday evening.
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