Philipp Kohlschreiber slays Ivan Dodig in the second round – Delray Beach International 2012
Fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber qualified for his third quarter-final of the season, beating world number 57 Ivan Dodig of Croatia in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the second round at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
in Florida, USA on Thursday.
At the start, it looked like it will be a tough match, as both players held their serve in the first four games of the first set to take the score to 2-2. However, it was an all-Kohlschreiber show after that. The German broke Dodig
in the fifth and seventh game, clinching four games in a row to claim the set 6-2.
Kohlschreiber served satisfactorily, smacking a couple of aces and 64 percent of the first deliveries. The German converted 13 of the 18 first and five of the 10 second serves into points. On the other hand, Dodig hit one ace more
than his opponent but the Croatian also committed four double faults. The 27-year-old was unable to save two of the eight break points he faced and wasted the two vital opportunities he received in the opener.
The German made an early breakthrough in the second set, grabbing a 3-1 lead. The Altstaetten, Switzerland resident won his opponent’s serve again in the seventh game and made full use of it to win 6-2.
Kohlschreiber’s big first serves continued to trouble the Croatian, as he fired four aces and sealed 10 of the 13 first delivery points. The German made Dodig’s life even more difficult with his accurate serve replies, bagging
seven of the nine second return points. The 28-year-old did not give any break chance to Dodig and capitalised on the two he got in the second set.
The German took just an hour and 18 minutes to thrash Dodig in a one-sided match.
With this win, the 5ft 10in tall improved his win-loss record to 12-5 in 2012. He started the season at Qatar ExxonMobil Open, losing to Rafael Nadal of Spain in thrilling sets 3-6, 7-6(2), 3-6 in the first round. Kohlschreiber
advanced to the last four at Heineken Open and Open Sud de France, getting defeated by Olivier Rochus and Tomas Berdych respectively. The German went down to Juan Martin Del Potro 4-6, 2-6, 1-6 in the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
Kohlschreiber is drawn to play world number 75, Dudi Sela of Israel, in the quarterfinals. The Israeli prevailed over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16.
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