Radek Stepanek ousts Adrian Ungur in 1st rubber – Davis Cup 2011 WG Play-offs: CZE vs ROU
Opening up the Team Czech Republic vs Team Romania tie in the 2011 Davis Cup World Group play-offs were Romaine Adrian Ungur against Czech Radek Stepanek. The two battled it out on classic clay courts of Centrul National de Tenis,
Bucharest, Romania and after one hour and forty five minutes standing victorious was Stepanek in straight three sets.
Opening the first set of the rubber was Stepanek and the two players went on to win on alternate games in the first three games. During the fourth game Stepanek broke Ungur to secure a lead of 3-1. Unbroken in the entire set Stepanek
held his serve and so did Ungur but because he had lost the initial half of the set, he was unable to break Stepanek’s defence and thus, only bagged three games out of the nine played.
Stepanek won the opening set by smashing a total of nineteen winners against Ungur’s thirteen, and won with six more points than the Romaine’s.
This time the first to open was Ungur but it was an appalling start as he was broken in the first game by Stepanek. As Stepanek held his serve in the second game, he went on to breaking his opponent for the second time in the third
game to take a mini lead. Stepanek then held his serve in the fourth game by smashing an ace at 40-0, and secured a 4-0 lead without much opposition from his adversary.
Ungur tried to make a return after the first four games but it was unfortunate as he was unable to produce the numbers. Even though, the two players held serve for the following four games, Ungurwas unable to match his opponent
and lost the second set with a 6-2 score.
Serving first in the third set was Ungur again but it he again lost the first game, allowing Stepanek to comfortably put himself on the scoreboard and then held his serve in the second game.
Dominating from the very beginning, Stepanek clinched another break in the third game before holding his own serve in the fourth to take the lead in the set at 4-0.
Establishing to make it an ideal victory, Stepanek continued his attack on the Romaine well into the fifth game and broke his opponent’s failing defence again and as Stepanek held his serve he concluded the set and the rubber by
smashing three successive aces.
Stepanek not only won the rubber but also gave a lead to his country in the ties. Stepanek was followed by the top ranked Czech Tomas Berdych for the 2nd rubber of the tie.
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