Tim Smyczek convincingly beats Artem Sitak in second qualifying round – Farmers Classic 2011
Joining the players in the third round matches of the qualifying round at the Farmers Classic 2011 is American Tim Smyczek. Smyczek won his match against Artem Sitak convincingly with the score line at 6-3, 6-3 at play’s
end. Fifth seed Smyczek is now amongst the only three seeded players who’ve managed to continue through till the third round; he is joined by second seed Rik de Voest and seventh seed Greg Jones.
Ranked at No. 214 in the singles tables, Smyczek came into the tournament with a season win-loss mark of 3-4. Recently at the Atlanta Tennis Championships Smyczek was able to reach only till the third round of the qualifiers
before being ousted by compatriot Phillip Simmonds. On the contrary, his opponent the New Zealander Artem Sitak is currently positioned at No. 389 on the rankings’ table and is seen playing mostly on the ITF Futures circuit. Sitak had previously
overpowered American Marcos Giron in his opening round match at the tournament.
Sitak opened the first set and initially it looked as if both the players were evenly matched. The march built up to the 2-2 mark after four particularly lengthy games. Smyczek registered his first serve break in the fifth
game of the set powered on. Smyczek served satisfactorily at around 63% and won only 14 of the 25 service points, four more than his opponent. Sitak meanwhile had deftly managed to land 3 well placed aces but they were in effect counteracted by the three double
faults which he committed. Smyczek went on to swiftly cut off the New Zealander’s serve twice again in the set, to set him trailing. The set closed at 6-3 massively in Smyczek’s account.
Both the players served with an equally dismal first serve percentage of 52% but it was Smyczek’s ability to grab 11 off the 13 second serve points (a massive 85%) which eventually won him the match. The struggling Sitak
was unable to pull off even a single breakpoint situation and Smyczek easily sailed through the set without facing even a single set break. His opponent meanwhile grabbed an opportunity in the fourth game and limiting Sitak to just 15 points, successfully
converted a break point. The set easily went to Smyczek who again sealed the scores at 6-3 to decisively win the match.
The fifth seed Smyczek will now have to duel with South African Rik De Voest, seeded at No.2 in the qualifiers, for a place in the main draws of the Farmers Classic.
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