Mikhail Youzhny stuns Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the quarters – Gerry Weber Open 2012
World number 31, Mikhail Youzhny, stunned the 20th ranked Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov, in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open on Wednesday. Youzhny won the opening set 6-4 but the 23-year-old Ukrainian fought
back to take the second set 6-3. However, the fourth seed Dolgopolov couldn’t handle the onslaught of the Russian in the final set and lost it 3-6.
An epic three-setter that lasted an hour and 49 minutes witnessed a gruelling battle between the contenders. It was the third head-to-head battle and the scores were previously tied at 1-1. So, the psychological pressure and mind
games were also the part of battle.
Dolgopolov started off well but soon lost control over his serves. He was tested rigorously in the fifth game but did well to hold on to his serve after saving a couple of breakpoints. However, the resistance finally ended in the
ninth game when he failed to save the second breakpoint on the serve.
It was the most critical stage of the set and losing a breakpoint meant that he needed to break back instantaneously to keep the set alive. The Ukrainian failed to break serve despite getting lead of points at one stage.
The second set witnessed a classic comeback from the fourth seed Ukrainian who broke serve in the sixth game and controlled the proceedings at his will. He was never threatened on his serves whilst pushed her opponent on the back
foot on multiple occurrences.
Stage was set for a thrilling third set. The momentum was with the 20th ranked Ukrainian but he failed to make use of it; lost an early breakpoint in the fourth game and went down to a mammoth trail of 1-4. Youzhny did
well to retain his lead throughout the set; just lost three points in the following three serve games that were good enough to confirm him the place in the last eight.
Youzhny talked to the media representatives after the match and stated, “With him, nobody has easy matches. He can play very good one set, or he can give you a present for one set and after play unbelievable. Today it was close,
one break each set, and I was a little bit lucky. On grass you have to be a little bit lucky in this close of a match.”
Next up for the 29-year-old Russian superstar is the 26th ranked Czech starlet, Radek Stepanek.
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