Michael McClune upsets Daniel Kosakowski in quarterfinal – Tulsa Challenger 2011
American tennis pro Michael McClune continued his impressive run on the hard courts of Oklahoma as he battled past compatriot Kosakowski 7-6 (6), 6-4 on Friday, 16th of September to book his place in the semi-final of
2011 Tulsa Challengers tournament here in United States.
Entering the Association of Tennis Professional tournament as a qualifier, McClune has been in commanding form over the last two weeks or so. At the Tulsa Qualification tournament, he won all of his matches quite comfortably. Carrying
over the winning momentum into this competition as well, McClune has made his opponent run for his money in match that lasted for 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Ranked 558th in the world, McClune was very pleased with his performance and he aimed to give similar performances in the upcoming matches as well. Defeating players ranked much higher than himself consistently this
week, he will be feeling very confident about his game play. Responding wisely to pressure situations, McClune has shown that he has the determination and the required temperament to make it all the way to the finals.
Looking for place in the last four at the challengers’ tournament, McClune made a strong start to the match. Serving brilliantly, he put his opponent under a lot of pressure. Using the hit and volley technique very effectively,
he pocketed his all six service games in the opening set to force the set into a tie-breaker.
Kosakowski put up a great fight and he came close to breaking his opponent on several occasions. However, he failed to handle the heat at crucial moments in the set. Wasting three break points in the opener, he really did not help
himself.
Both players displayed some high class tennis in the tie-breaker as the balance of the match shifted from one side to another. Outlasting his opponent in baseline rallies, McClune earned his first set point at 7-6. Converting it
with a ferocious serve ace, he took 1-0 set score lead.
The same trend was noticed in the following set as well as both players struggled to break the serve. Holding on to his first five service games, McClune earned a tricky 5-4 lead, required a break of serve to complete his straight
sets victory.
Playing the big points really well, he earned his second serve break of the match to seal a memorable victory. The American will be delighted with his effort and he is expected to have a tough semi-final match-up against the top
seed Sam Querrey on Saturday.
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