Pavol Cervenak rallies past Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo into the second round – Bet-at-home Cup 2012
Slovakia’s 204th ranked player, Pavol Cervenak, came back from the jaws of defeat to topple the world number 90, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain, in three sets 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 in the opening round of the Bet-at-home
Cup in Kitzbuhel, Austria on Tuesday. The Slovakian took two hours and 31 minutes to win a hard fought contest.
Cervenak and Hidalgo made a stable start, as none of the two players managed to break other in the first nine games, taking the score to 5-4 in the latter’s favour. The Spanish contestant struck at that moment and closed it 6-4.
Hidalgo’s conversion rate was exceptionally high, as he won 12 of the 13 first and eight of the 10 second serve points. The Spaniard also fired a couple of aces compared to none by his rival. Cervenak was himself to blame, as he
committed five double faults and dropped eight of the 16 points on the second deliveries. The Slovakian player failed to create any break chance for himself and failed to save one of the five his opponent had in the opener.
In the second set, Hidalgo and Cervenak started by securing their opening serves to level the score at 1-1. The Slovakian contestant hit a blow to Hidalgo in the third and held his next serve to attain a 3-1 lead. Cervenak failed
to finish the set in the 10th game, as he lost his serve to square off the proceedings at 5-5. The set was taken to a tie-breaker, where the Slovakian raised his level and snatched seven of the eight points to win 7-6(1).
One of the main reasons of Cervenak’s survival was that he reduced his double fault to only one in the second set. At the same time, Hidalgo’s serve performance dropped, as he smacked just a single ace and made three double faults.
Cervenak pocketed most of the points on his second deliveries and returns, capturing 12 of the 16 and 11 of the 19 points on them respectively.
The Slovakian participant carried the winning momentum into the decider, sealing opening three games to build a 3-0 lead. Hidalgo struck back in the fifth but he lost his following serve to trail 2-4. He made his second try to
come on equal terms by breaking Cervenak in the seventh one but he wasted his efforts once again, dropping next two games to go down 3-6.
Cervenak will meet his fifth seeded compatriot, Martin Klizan, in the round of 16.
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