Raven Klaasen defeats Denys Molchanov to reach semi-final – Tashkent Challengers 2011
South African tennis pro Raven Klaasen crushed Denys Molchanov of Ukraine 7-6 (6), 6-3 on Thursday to book his place in the semi-final of 2011 Tashkent Challenger here in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Klaasen started the first set on a very positive note as he held onto his service game with four straight points. Playing his natural game freely, he created all sorts of problems for his opponent from the baseline. Showing his
aggressive intent, he was not afraid of taking risks to surprise the challenger
Denys was also up for the challenge and showed great determination and fighting spirit to stay in the set. Holding onto all of his service games, he managed to force the set into a tie-breaker. Both players put up a great show
in the tie-breaker as some highly competitive tennis was witnessed.
However, Klaasen continued his onslaught and he dashed a ferocious forehand winner down the line to set up a match point for himself. Converting it with a powerful serve ace, he bagged the set to take 1-0 set score lead.
The second set also followed a pretty similar fashion as contestants struggled to break the serve. After both men held on to their first three service games, the match entered a very interesting phase. Leading the game score 4-3,
Klaasen broke the dead lock by making his first serve break of the match, He then held on to his next service game with ease to close out the match that lasted for 1 hour and 35 minutes on the hard courts of Tashkent.
Ranked 244th in the world, Klaasen was absolutely delighted with his effort and is expected to continue his great form in the upcoming matches at the tournament. However, he must improve on several areas of the game
to achieve consistency in his game play. Denys put up a great fight, to his credit. The Ukrainian served brilliantly as she fired 11 blistering serve aces. He will be looking to make a strong come back on his next ATP appearance.
Tags: