Phillip Simmonds edges past Tim Smyczek to reach the main draws – Atlanta Tennis Championships 2011
Another upset in the qualifiers of Atlanta Tennis Championships, as the fourth seeded American, Tim Smyczek crashed out of the final round at the hands of his fellow compatriot, Phillip Simmonds, on Monday afternoon in Atlanta,
the United States.
The all-American affair exhibited an entertaining contest between the two men battling out extremely hard in from of their home crowd to get a spot in the main draws of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250
tournament. Simmonds stunned the fourth seed to bag victory in three sets, settling the final scores at 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, to get access to the first round of the main draws of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.
Smyczek had the game under his control once he clinched the opening set but he utterly failed to sustain the momentum in the later parts of the competition, crumbling in the last two sets to bestow victory upon his fellow countryman.
Simmonds displayed his strong character to recover from a one-set deficit in the contest and eventually registered an emphatic victory in the end to oust the fourth seed out of the draws.
The action-packed opening set took off with a serve break from Smyczek in the second game to lead 3-1 early. The other American gave his reply in the 10 game, breaking Smyczek’s serve to bring the scores on levelled terms at 5-all
and later enforcing a tie breaker round. The decider also went on neck-to-neck before Smyczek finally capitalised upon a mini-break to seal the first set at 7-6(5), getting one up in the competition.
Tide turned in the very next set when Simmonds came out firing at his opponent, adopting attacking tactics to transfer the pressure on his opponent. He crafted nine break opportunities in the second set alone and cashed in just
two of them to his advantage. The unseeded American drew his first flood in the seventh game when he cashed in a break point to lead 4-3 and then another one in the very next serve game to finish of the second set at 6-3.
Simmonds continued with his winning momentum in the final set as well and once again two consecutive serve breaks toward the end of the set proved fruitful for him. The American concluded the matchup at 6-2, getting a place in
the main draws of Atlanta Tennis Championships, where he will take on the former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, in the opening round.
Tags: