Mikhail Vaks battles past Alan Muzati into the second qualifier – Siberia Cup 2012 CH
Russia’s 836th ranked player, Mikhail Vaks, controlled his nerves in a high intensity match and defeated his compatriot, Alan Muzati, in three sets 7-6(1), 6-7(4), 6-4 in the first round of the qualifying draw at the
Siberia Cup in Tyumen, Russia. It is a challenger level tournament, being held on the hard courts.
Vaks and Muzati held their serves in the first five games to take the score to 3-2 in favour of the latter. The unranked player, Muzati, drew the first blood, as he hit a blow to Vaks in the sixth and consolidated on it to move
ahead 5-2. Vaks captured three games in a row to level the score at 5-5 and took it to 6-6, forcing a tie-break. Both players won a single point from the first two and levelled it at 1-1. Vaks played amazingly to clinch six straight points after that, sealing
it 7-6(1).
The 19-year-old smashed two aces and conceded one double fault in the first set. Vaks managed to hit just 44 percent of the first serves but succeeded in amazingly converting 13 of the 14 of them into points. The Russian player
also did a pretty good job on the second deliveries and returns, as he secured 13 of the 18 and 10 of the 16 points on them respectively.
Vaks and Muzati broke each other in the first two games of the second set to level the proceedings at 1-1. Vaks struck in the sixth and held his following serve to attain a 5-2 lead. The Russian contender, however, failed to hold
his serve in the ninth game, losing three back to back and taking the score to 6-6. Muzati earned a mini-break in the middle and made the most of it to win 7-6(4).
The unranked Russian participant served superbly, bombarding six aces on Vaks and capturing 21 of the 25 first delivery points. Muzati’s second serve performance was down compared to the first one, as he lost 12 of the 18 points
on them including one double fault. The Russian national availed two of the four break chances he created in the second set.
Vaks and Muzati started the decider by holding their serve in the first two games and squaring off the score at 1-1. The right-hander, Vaks, nailed a break in the third game and consolidated on it to move ahead 3-1. The Russian
player did not allow Muzati to bounce back this time and closed it 6-4.
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