Rik De Voest engulfs Ti Chen in qualifying 2nd round – Malaysian Open 2011
Rik De Voest, South African, went on playing the 2nd round qualifier of the Malaysian Open 2011 on Sunday, 25th September. Standing up against the Taipei world No.293, Ti Chen, the 31-year-old stormed to a
hard fought victory winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in a long two hours and fourteen minutes match.
Although De Voest, ranked world No.133, did not have a satisfying season, he did manage to get away with a win in the 2nd qualifier. On the other hand, Chen was a better contender as he had been performing comparatively
better than his rival, though he failed to hit it big this time around.
Moving on with the fixture, the two walked in the hard court with a handful of spectators. Winning the service toss, the Taipei stormed up his side to serve out the first game of the match. Winning the opener, the South African
followed with his first win to level the scores at 1-1.
The 31-year-old, being a much more experienced player had his technique working out as he broke-serve-broke Chen to extend his lead to 4-1. However, the Taipei did hit back with a breakpoint in game 6 but could not retain his defence
and fell short on his own serve. With scores now at 5-2, De Voest served out the last game, 6-2, to lead the match 1-0.
With an insulting beating in the first set, Chen hammered back serve-break-serving at the start and rocketing up to a three games lead. De Voest did pull back the same way to level the scores; however, the Taipei made the South
African run all over the court.
Levelling up next at 4-4 and then at 5-5, the match seemed to go into a tiebreaker, however, Chen attacked with a sudden down-the-line backhand shot, serving out game 11, 6-5, and winning the set 7-5, breaking De Voest in game
12.
Chen, levelling up the match scores at 1-1, served to open the decider and mustered the first game. De Voest followed to level the scores and made an early move breaking the Taipei in game 3 to lead 2-1. Serving out game 4, world
No.133 extended his lead, 3-1, and switched the serve.
The two went on serving out respective games, however, the Taipei could not breach the South African’s concrete defence. Eventually the set ended with De Voest winning 6-4.
The 31-year-old now qualifies for the final qualifying round of the Malaysian Open 2011. De Voest will play Michael Yani, the American, for a seat in the main draws of the ATP Tour 250 event.
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