Stanislas Wawrinka ousts Robin Haase to reach the last four – Estoril Open 2012
Sixth seed Dutch, Robin Haase, lost the quarter-final matchup against the third seed Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the Estoril Open in Portugal. On Friday, both players locked horns to battle for the spot in the semi-final but
the Dutch only lasted 58 minutes in the contest; bowing down in straight sets 1-6, 4-6.
It was one-side traffic throughout the match. All the shots were coming from the Swiss and his counterpart was just watching the ball sail pass him especially in the opening set. Wawrinka started off in emphatic fashion; bagging
the opening serve game in style and breaking serve in the fourth game to take a lead of 3-1.
He was tested to limits in the fifth game but survived the scare and denied his opponent of the most wanted breakpoint. However, the situation was crystal clear by the end of the sixth game as Haase had drowned to a trail of 1-5
after losing yet another serve game. Four points on the trot for the Swiss rounded off the opening set proceedings in quick succession.
A vigilant start to the second set witnessed a couple of serve holds before the dominating Swiss professional took a lead courtesy to a breakthrough. He faced a bit of trouble in holding his serve in the following game but saved
a breakpoint to consolidate the lead to 4-2.
Haase bounced back into the match with a stunning show; winning eight out of ten points in the following two games and registering the most important breakthrough that levelled the scores at 4-4.
However, the most disappointing moment came at the end of the ninth game when the Dutch wasted all his efforts and went down a break. Wawrinka held his serve to end the second set and diminish any talk about a possible comeback
from the 43rd ranked Dutch.
It was the fourth straight head-to-head win for the Swiss who is yet to lose a single encounter against the Dutch. He looks in great form at the moment and this performance will help him to break into the Top-20 players of the
tournament.
Next up for the Swiss is the top seed Argentine, Juan Martin del Porto, who is in emphatic run of form. The Argentine is also the defending champion so he is eager to win each and every match in the tournament and prolong his winning
streak in Portugal. It will be interesting to see his performance against the Swiss.
Tags: