Paolo Lorenzi rallies past Bradley Klahn to reach second round – Farmers Classic 2012
Italian contender, Paolo Lorenzi, outmuscled the local qualifier, Bradley Klahn, in a see-saw three setter at the Farmers Classic 2012 on Tuesday. He summed up a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 success against the world number 613 to secure a place in the round of 16 at this
Emirates Airline US Open series tournament taking place from 23rd to 29th July in UCLA, Los Angeles.
Lorenzi stayed focused throughout the marathon to pull out the victory in his first encounter against the left-handed American. After dominating in almost two hour-long duel, the Italian comfortably secured a place in the pre-quarters at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event.
The Italian veteran stepped on the Los Angeles hard courts with conviction. He drew the first blood in the fourth game and leaped to a 4-1 lead. Despite squandering his edge in the seventh game, Lorenzi held his remaining serves and got the breakthrough
in the last game. He failed to save the only breakpoint he faced but capitalised on two out of nine break chances, eventually sealing the opener by winning six games to four.
The 21-year-old on the other side of net re-focused his strategy. He earned the desiderated break in the third game and took a 2-1 lead. Apart from losing his edge in the very next game, Klahn stroke out the last four games in a row and clicked the equaliser
with a 6-3 win.
Ranked 91st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Lorenzi went out of control in the final set. He blasted powerful groundstrokes to reel off all six games in a row. The Italian brushed off both breakpoints he faced and cashed
in three out of 12 break chances to pull out the decider with a bagel.
Next in queue for Lorenzi is the fourth seed, Nicolas Mahut, who received a bye into the second round after being the top four players at this event.
The Russian star, Igor Andreev, tumbled Dudi Sela in straight sets to steal the show earlier that day. He clobbered a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory against the Israeli number one in one hour and 25 minutes.
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