Philipp Petzschner cruises past Pablo Andujar into second round – Erste Bank Open 2011
German Philipp Petzschner outmuscled Spaniard Pablo Andujar in straight sets at the Erste Bank Open 2011, an indoor hard court tournament and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series. He registered a 6-2, 6-2 success over the 25-year-old
Spaniard to secure a second round spot on Tuesday.
The 2008 titlist, Petzschner trashed the Spaniard, ranked forty-six in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, in almost an hour long marathon. Facing each other for the first time, the German not only took lead in the
head-to-head series by 1-0 against Andujar but also advanced on the Austrian hard courts.
27-year-old German stormed into the Weiner Stadthalle and broke Andujar’s serve in the opening game of the first set. Regardless of losing his serve in the very next game, Petzschner convert two more breakpoint chances to his advantage
to seal the opener with a 6-2 score line.
He failed to defend the only breakpoint faced but capitalised on three out of five breakpoint opportunities to his advantage. The German also clobbered an equal first serve share of 42 percent and earned an acceptable 50 percent
win on it.
World number sixty-three, Petzschner carried his momentum into the final set. After the Spaniard held his serve in the third game, he bombarded powerful groundstrokes and forehands from his box of tricks to seal the victory with
a 6-2 win.
The German veteran dusted away both breakpoints came across and cashed in on half of the four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage. He also manipulated a higher first serve share this time and registered a spectacular 85 percent
win on it.
Next up for the German is the second seeded Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro who received a first round bye after being a top four player.
On another court in an all-Austrian match, world number 1890 Dominic Thiem earned his first tour level win after upsetting Thomas Muster, ranked 1078 in the ATP rankings, in almost an hour.
18-year-old Thiem warded off the only breakpoint faced in the opening set and after cashing in both breakpoint chances to his advantage, he won the opener with a 6-2 score line.
The Austrian teenager continued with his impressive ways in the final set. He saved one out of two breakpoints faced and capitalised on three out of four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to pocket the set with a 6-3 win.
"He’s done very well," the 44-year-old Muster praised his compatriot. "He came out firing and played very well. He’s an upcoming player from Austria. He’s very young and ambitious, all the best to him."
Thiem will next face the winner of the match between seventh seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko and German qualifier Steve Darcis.
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