Philipp Kohlschreiber edges past Rik De Voest into second qualifying round – China Open 2011
Seeded at number one in the qualifying draw of the China Open, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany had to go through some real tough times before overcoming the unseeded South African competitor, Rik De Voest, to move into the qualifying
competition on Sunday morning.
The contest was played on the outdoor hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Center in Beijing, People's Republic of China, with the top seeded German settling the final scores at 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(6), to come out as the winner.
World number 51, Kohlschreiber, took two hours and forty two minutes of play to wrap up victory and needs just one more win to qualify for the main draw of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 event.
The contest remained evenly poised all the way, with both players throwing the best they had at each other. The top seeded German took the opening set in the tie breaker round but went through a terrible slump in the following
set to let De Voest back in business. A stiff competition was witnessed in the final set but Kohlschreiber held his nerve to eventually take the better of his opponent in the tie breaker round.
It was Kohlschreiber’s 27th victory of the running year and the second one against the South African in singles encounters. De Voest also suffered a straight sets defeat at the hands of the German in 2010 Davis Cup playoffs,
4-6, 4-6, 4-6, and now faces a 0-2 deficit in the head-to-head series against him.
Despite of an ordinary serve precision of just 51 per cent and conceding eight double faults, Kohlschreiber reeled off 44 out of 57 first serve points in the matchup to come out as the winner. De Voest bettered him with 57 points
and stung four serve breaks in the contest in reply to the German’s two conversion s but failed to deliver under pressure situations of the contest. He dropped the opening and then the third set in tie breaker rounds after a tough competition, letting Kohlschreiber
further in the qualifiers.
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