Mikhail Youzhny overwhelms Adrian Mannarino to roll into the semis – St. Petersburg Open 2011
Adrian Mannarino’s magnificent run was finally brought to a halt by the brilliance of the world number 33, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, in the quarter-final clash of the St. Petersburg Open on Friday evening.
The fifth seeded Youzhny outplayed the Frenchman in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, taking just one hour and nineteen minutes of play to move into the final four of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The contest was staged at the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with the home favourite living up to the expectations of the local crowd. Youzhny displayed his magnificent hard-court tennis skills
to outclass the 86th ranked Mannarino with the utmost ease to book a berth in his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final of the current year. The Russian has suffered defeats in all the prior three semi-final contests he has competed in this season but
it is anticipated that the home ground conditions will certainly help him overcome his stigma this time.
Youzhny faced limited resistance from his unseeded opponent and outplayed him in every segment of the game to come out as the winner. Mannarino made a huge upset in the opening round of the contest when he defeated the world number
12, Gilles Simon of France, to dispose the top seed out of the competition but he failed to put up a similar performance on Friday night.
The fifth seed secured 27 out of 35 first serve points and nailed four out of nine break points to drive his opponent out of the competition. Mannarino crafted three break opportunities but converted merely one to finish on the
losing side. His bleak baseline defence was well exploited by the Russian, who belted a number of winners down the line to remain on top of the game.
An early exchange of serve breaks was seen in the opening set but Youzhny struck two successive breaks of serve in the sixth and eighth game to seal the opening set at 6-2. One serve break in the sixth game of the following set
proved sufficient for the Russian to close out the contest at 6-3, moving into the semi-final draw of the tournament.
Youzhny will take on the fourth seeded Croat, Marin Cilic, in the semi-finals on Saturday evening to earn a title shot in the final of the St. Petersburg Open. Cilic registered a hard fought victory against the unseeded Italian,
Andreas Seppi, in the round of eight to book a date with Youzhny in the semis.
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