Mikhail Youzhny cruises into quarterfinals against Ivo Karlovic – Qatar Open 2012
Russian seventh seed, Mikhail Youzhny, fought valiantly against Croatian Ivo Karlovic on Wednesday at the 2012 Qatar Open and scored a win with scores of 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3 in the men’s singles second round competition. Youzhny’s
second win of the new ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season propels him to the quarterfinals of the World Tour 250-level tournament.
56 ranked Croatian dominated the match with twenty aces and only two double faults. He used his precise service games to intimidate Youzhny but it was the Russian kept pocketing points on regularity to stay alive in the match.
For a greater part in the match, Youzhny was on the back foot and could not find any room to blast away with his shots. His service games were effective in the first set where he bagged sixteen points from first serve out of seventeen.
Karlovic merely won nine first serve points from the seventeen chances he got but he was unable to break any of Youzhny’s serve, which showed the level of concentration the Russian was delivering his serves with. Although the Croatian
had a great start, he could not keep the pace as Youzhny won the first set 6-2.
The Russian entered the second set aiming for a win but the Croatian was again on the offensive. Both players did not concede any unforced errors and retained their offensive stance but Youzhny looked intimidated by the way Karlovic
played the second set set. After Karlovic’s loss in the first set motivated him to display some maturity in his shots as he took the second set into a tie breaker. The Russian was rattled when Karlovic won the second set 7-6(3).
Both players made their way into the third set with a single minded approach to win the set and with it emerge as the winner. Karlovic maintained some hegemony in the opening part of the last set but Youzhny retaliated with some
nice drop shots and half volleys. When Karlovic won three games, it looked as if he would gain a win but the Russian had other plans. Youzhny restricted Karlovic to 3 games as he went on to win 6, clinching the set 6-3 and winning the match 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3.
This was the first time when both players met on the court. In their last meeting, Youzhny won the match 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Youzhny has now entered into the quarterfinals of the match where he will face Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
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