Thomas Schoorel battles past Cedrik-Marcel Stebe to book a semi-final spot at 2011 Rai Open
Thomas Schoorel showed amazing determination and character as he came back from a set deficit to defeat German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the quarter-final match at the 2011 Rai Open in Rome.
With his win, the Dutch tennis pro has set up a semi-final clash with Andreas Beck on Sunday.
Schoorel looked down and out as the match started. His on-court movement was slow and as a result, he missed several easy chances to score. Stebe was very quick to grab the opportunity as he smashed brilliant forehand and backhand winners wide of his opponent.
The German tennis pro broke the serve twice in the opener and required only 36 minutes to go 1-0 up in the match.
In the following set, Schoorel regrouped himself and showed astonishing fighting ability and temperament to force the set into a tiebreaker. Schoorel used his powerful serve effectively to keep himself in the contest. The Dutch fired 4 aces in the set and
claimed most of the points on his serve. He then converted one of the set points to level the set score 1-1.
Both players traded serve breaks in the final set as the match entered an exciting phase. Stebe broke the serve first with a brilliant top spinner but Schoorel bounced back brilliantly by making a double serve break to lead the game score 5-4, serving for
the match. Stebe saved two match points but he could not stop his opponent from earning a well-deserved victory. The match lasted for more than 2 hours and 30 minutes.
With his aggressive baseline strategy, Schoorel was able to put pressure on his opponent. The Dutch tennis pro hit the ball extremely hard from the line and created difficult angles wide of the court. He has now twice come back from behind to claim win on
the red clay courts in Rome. Considering his current form and experience, he is a strong contender to lift the Rai Open title.
Qualifier Stebe had not a lost a set in his four matches at the tournament. He eased past Austrian Thomas Muster in his opening match at the red clay courts. In the second round play he defeated Evgeny Donskoy in straight sets. The 20-year-old was hoping
for a similar result in the quarter-final but could not go past the excellence of Schoorel.
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