Sergei Bubka defeats Stefan Seifert in the second qualifying round – US Open 2012
World number 148, Sergei Bubka devastated the German, Stefan Seifert, in straight sets at the last Grand Slam, US Open 2012 held in Queen, New York. The Ukrainian players marked his win with 6-3, 7-5 in the qualifying event which took place on Thursday.
The former world number 145 held his opening serve in the match and was able to clinch the initial three games, bring the scores to 3-0. The German underdog gradually picked momentum but seemed helpless in front of his rival’s serve. The Ukrainian unlashed the spark and confidently advanced forward to claim the opener. He also broke his rivals serve once in the initial set.
Ranked 255th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Seifert served the second set but was unable to score any point. However, his game picked momentum as the set proceeded. The German played the game in high spirit, ready to give his rival an upset in every game. Both players equalized each other’s scores four times in the decisive set. The 25-year-old was persistent as he resisted his opponent’s serve and eventually registered his win with 7-5 score line. He was able to break Seifert’s serve once in the second last game of the match.
The players have contested each other for the first time in their tennis careers. The 27-year-old had a moderate first serve percentage of 58 but he double faulted twice at critical junctures in the match. Similarly, Bubka had a 57 percent first serve percent, whereas he pounced on his rival with eight aces and never made any double faults. Fortunately, he bagged two of the six break points in the match to come out as the deserving winner.
The 27-year-old German’s performance had surely improved his performance this year, nonetheless, he need to be more aggressive in order to improve his rankings. He needs to avoid making errors and adopt a more proactive game plan with strong faith in his abilities.
The Ukrainian right-hander will be contesting against the Argentinean Guido Andreozzi in the final qualifying round. His performance as compared to last year has declined, and he was unable to make past the final qualifier round.
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