Pavol Cervenak jolts Tommy Haas in round two – Mercedes Cup 2012
Slovakian qualifier, Pavol Cervenak, upset the former world number two, Tommy Haas, in straight sets at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Thursday. He penned down a 6-4, 6-4 victory against the 34-year-old to power into the quarter-finals at this outdoor clay court
tournament taking place in Stuttgart, Germany.
The underdog showed top notch performance to outclass the eighth seeded Haas in one hour and 32 minutes. Meeting each other for the first time, Cervenak comfortably booked a spot in the last eight at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour
250 series event.
"I think it was one of my best matches," Cervenak was quoted in a post-match interview. "I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of 4-5,000 people, supporting him, not me. So I think it was a very good match. I was really relaxed during the whole match,
I think because he was the favourite. I think that was the key to the match for me, that I stayed really calm and relaxed."
Cervenak made a strong impact right after entering the Tennis Club Weissenhof and drew the first blood in the opening game. The Slovak maintained consistency in his game and swiped his entire serves after blocking all seven breakpoints he came across, subsequently
sealing the opener with a 6-4 win.
Ranked 206th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Cervenak kept momentum floating into the follow-up set and earned the desiderated break in the opening game to jump to a 2-0 lead. Apart from losing his edge in the sixth game,
the Slovak broke his opponent’s serve again in the following game and then held his serves to click the set with a 6-4 score line.
Cervenak will next face the second seed, Juan Monaco, who tumbled Germany’s Tobias Kamke in straight sets to set up this battle.
The Brazilian contender, Thomaz Bellucci, also stole the show later that day. He juggled up a 7-6(6), 6-3 victory against the third seeded Aussie, Bernard Tomic, in one hour and 47 minutes. The underdog was broken twice but availed three out of eight break
chances to earn the glory.
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