Radek Stepanek outplays Rik De Voest to make it to the main draw – Cincinnati Open 2011
Top seed in the qualifying draws, Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic made it to the main draws of Westerns and Southern Open by defeating Rik De Voest of South Africa on Sunday afternoon.
The contest was staged on outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, United States, with the top seeded Czech wining in straight sets, 7-5, 6-0. Stepanek took one hour and twenty four minutes of play to book a berth in the main draws of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series event.
It started as an evenly poised matchup but turned completely one-sided game in the later parts. De Voest hung in the opener for a long while before eventually submitting it to his opponent but proved a wall of sand in the following set, failing to hold serve in a single game. The South African was absolutely blown away by Stepanek in the second set and the Czech forced his way to the first round of Cincinnati Open.
Stepanek served with 61 per cent precision in the game and secured 26 out of 35 first serve points en route to victory, while his opponent followed him with 19 out of his 34 points to lose the matchup in the end. The Czech’s serve remained unbroken in the entire matchup, with De Voest frittering away three precious break opportunities in the game and suffering four out of eight from the aggressive Stepanek.
The opening set took off in a steady manner, with both men taking their time to get settled in the contest. No serve breaks were seen in the opening 10 games of the match, with the set evenly poised at 5-5. Stepanek made his first move of the day to nail a timely serve break to close out the first set at 7-5 to get the upper hand in the contest.
The following set was all-Czech show, with Stepanek dominating every second of the game. The top seed broke De Voest in his every single serve game, nailing three break points in a row to drive the South African out of the competition. De Voest had a break opportunity in the fourth game but was denied yet again by the brilliance of Stepanek, who later closed out victory at 6-0 to book a place in the main rounds of Western and Southern Open. He will play his opening round match against the American competitor, John Isner.
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