Mikhail Youzhny stuns Tommy Haas to enter round two – China Open 2012
Russian contender, Mikhail Youzhny, upset the seventh seed, Tommy Haas from Germany, in a three-set mouth-watering match at the China Open 2012 on Tuesday. He nudged up a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 success over the German veteran to power into the second round at the
National Tennis Center in Beijing, China.
The 28-year-old showed best tennis and ultimately carved out the victory in his sixth meeting against the 34-year-old at this outdoor hard court event. He not only avenged his loss at the Cincinnati Masters event four years ago but also levelled the FedEx
ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head Series against Haas.
Youzhny made a sloppy entry at this ATP World Tour 500 Series event. He suffered the first blow in the sixth game and went 2-4 down. However, the Russian unleashed flurry of groundstrokes after that and reeled off four games in a row. He impressively warded
off four out of five breakpoints he came across and cashed in two out of seven break chances to register a 6-4 success.
The former world number two re-ignited his spark in the proceeding set. He smoothly bagged his entire serves after blocking the only breakpoint he faced. Haas cashed a single break opportunity in the last game and clicked the equaliser with a 6-4 victory.
Ranked 28th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Youzhny re-gained his early momentum. After Haas held his serve in the third game, the Russian went on a five-game rampage and pulled out the decider with a 6-2 score line. He superbly
dusted away all four breakpoints he faced and converted two out of six break opportunities to steal the spotlight.
Youzhny will square off against the South African number one, Kevin Anderson, who bounced back to triumph over the American qualifier, Brian Baker, in a three-set thriller to set up this meeting.
The third seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, faced a better fortune later that day. He made an epic comeback as he pulled out the equaliser with a breadstick. The French number one remained calm in the last set and after dominating in the tie-breaker, he clicked
the match with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(3) success.
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