Sergei Bubka beats Tennys Sandgren in the quarter-finals – Nielsen Pro Championships 2012 CH
Ukraine’s world number 167, Sergei Bubka, gave a consistent performance to down Tennys Sandgren of USA in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Nielsen Pro Championships on Thursday.
It took Bubka an hour and 14 minutes to get past his opponent in an easy match.
Bubka and Sandgren held their serve in the first six games and squared off the score at 3-3. The American saved four break points in the seventh but could not put away the fifth one, going down 3-4. However, he did not take much time to even out the proceedings at 4-4. Bubka fared almost flawlessly in the following couple of games, allowing his American rival to claim only one point and sealing it 6-4.
The Ukrainian pounded four aces and committed only one double fault in the opening set. The 25-year-old had a poor first serve percentage of 43 but succeeded in claiming 11 of the 13 points on them. The Monte-Carlo, Monaco resident also did a good job on the second deliveries and returns, securing nine of the 17 and eight of the 13 points on them respectively.
The start of the second set was almost similar to the opener, as none of the two players managed to snatch a break in the first 10 games and took the score to 4-4. Bubka hit a blow to the American in the ninth one and capitalised on it to triumph 6-4.
The Ukrainian contender improved his serve compared to the previous set, as he bombarded five aces and 66 percent of the first serves on Sandgren, winning 16 of the 19 points on them. He could not perform well on the replies to the American’s deliveries, losing 11 of the 18 first and seven of the 11 second return points. However, Bubka made the difference by converting the only break point he received and not providing a single one to his opponent in the second set.
The right-hander is drawn to play John-Patrick Smith of Australia in the semis. Smith was leading 6-2, 1-0 when Mikhail Ledovskikh forfeited the match due to injury.
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