Rajeev Ram, Michael Russell sail into quarterfinal – Tulsa Challenger 2011
American tennis pro Rajeev Ram defeated Catalin Gard of Romania 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday to book a quarterfinal spot at the 2011 Tulsa Challenger series here in Oklahoma, United States.
Ram looked in stunning form as he required only 1 hour and 5 minutes dispatching his opponent. Dropping only three games throughout the match, he dominated his opponent in almost all aspects of the game. His ability to hit winners
from deep behind the baseline created all sorts of problems for the challenger.
Breaking the serve at regular intervals, he pocketed the opening in a blink of an eye. The American continued to display some high quality tennis in the second set as well. Blasting a gorgeous backhand winner down the line, he
completed his straight sets victory to move ahead at the Association of Tennis Professionals tournament.
Gard looked a bit out of sorts throughout the match. He was unable to time the ball to perfection and he leaked points at crucial moments of the match. Struggling to find answers, the Romanian was unable to earn a single break
point in a completely one sided fair. Committing a large number of unforced errors including eight double faults, he failed to handle the pressure.
Ranked 499th in the world, Gard was disappointed with his ordinary effort. However, he aimed to come back stronger on his next ATP appearance. The 30-year-old needs to improve his game play significantly if he wants
to stand a chance against top players in men singles’ world.
Looking for a place in the last eight of the Challengers tournament, Ram made a bright start to the match. Hitting the ball really hard from the baseline, he made his opponent run for his money. Breaking the serve regularly in
the opening set, he earned a handsome 5-2 lead. World number 217 had no problems holding on to his service games and he fired a blazing serve ace to take 1-0 set score lead.
The second set followed a very similar trend with Ram holding on to his service games comfortably, thanks to his blistering serves. Breaking the serve three times, he dropped only a game in the second set to wrap up the contest.
Meanwhile, number two seed Michael Russell demolished Mexican Luis Diaz Barriga 6-1, 6-0 to book his place in the quarterfinals.
The American did not allow his opponent to breathe in a match that lasted for only 50 minutes. Barriga, who had good start to the tournament, failed to pose any kind of threats to the American as he could not break his opponent
serve even once during the contest.
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