Mikhail Kukushkin thrashes Andreas Haider-Maurer in 1st qualifying – Swiss Indoors Basel 2011
Fifth seeded Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin survived a mid match lapse against Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first qualifying round of the Swiss Indoors Basel 2011.
The Official Tournament Profile of Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel is held in Basel, Switzerland and is an ATP World Tour 500 event. The two players competed on indoor hard courts of St. Jakobshalle in Basel and the Kazakh was able to oust the Austrian in three sets of 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 on Saturday the 29th of October 2011.
The first set of the match was initiated by Maurer and he quickly bagged his service game to place himself on the scoreboard at 1-0. Following in his footsteps was the Austrian, who too managed to expertly handle his service game and tied the score at 1-1. It was in the third game that Maurer endorsed a game to his opponent (Kukushkin), who then held his serve to reel of straight two games and the scoreboard had shifted to 3-1.
In the following two games the players managed to hold their service games and by the end of the sixth game the score had progressed to 4-2 with the Kazakh leading the set. During the last two games, Maurer once again double faulted, while, Kukushkin clogged the opening set with a 6-2 victory.
In the second set both the players matched a blow for a blow and the score moved on even terms at 1-1, then 2-2. It was in the fifth game that Maurer held his serve and then in the sixth he broke his adversary. The Austrian capitalized on the breakpoint and as he served for the match, he smashed a marvellous backhand winner and secured his victory.
By the end of the first two sets each player had bagged a set and initiating the third set was Maurer but he got off to a bad start. On the other hand, Kukushkin had placed himself on the scoreboard with a mini lead of 2-0. The players then held their serves in the following four games but Kukushkin was still leading by break and a hold of serve.
It was in the seventh game that Maurer’s forehand shot went wayward and he gifted a game to his adversary. The Kazakh then benefitted from the break and with a backhand cross court shot sealed his victory by restricting his opponent to only two games.
By winning the set and the match, the Kazakh managed to secure a place in the second qualifying round of the tournament where he will be facing second seeded James Blake.
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