Tim Smyczek stuns the injury-stricken Ricardas Berankis to reach the main draw – SAP Open 2012
Eighth seed, Tim Smyczek, earned a 6-3, 4-2 retirement victory over the Lithuanian challenger, Ricardas Berankis, at the SAP Open 2012 on Monday. After earning this success, the local seed advanced into the main draw of this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour event held on the hard courts in San Jose, United States.
Facing each other for the second time, Smyczek earned a retirement victory over the second seed in 47-minutes. He not only maintained his winning record against the Lithuanian but also got a shot to claim 250 ranking points. Both contestants previously met
each other at the Puerto Rico Challenger four years ago where the American battled past Berankis in a three set thriller.
Ranked 301st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Smyczek thundered at the HP Pavilion and jumped to a 3-0 lead with a break of serve. He then maintained consistency in his game and kept entire serves, ultimately clinching the
opener with a 6-3 score line. The American was never challenged with any breakpoint and he cashed in the only break opportunity. He also formulated an amazing first serve share of 71 percent as opposed to Berankis’ 55 percent and marked 16 out of 24 points
on it.
The 24-year-old kept momentum rolling into the following set and held his serve in the second game to level the scores at 1-1. He then held his composure and capitalised on the only break chance in the fifth game to eventually go 4-2 up. However, the Lithuanian
picked up an injury during this set and after feeling severe pain, he retired from the tournament.
As a result, the Milwaukee native advanced into the main draw where he will confront the Luxembourgian challenger, Gilles Muller, in the opening round.
Joining the eighth seed is the Bulgarian contender, Dimitar Kutrovsky, who slew Slovenia’s Luka Gregorc with a bagel to enter the main draw.
Battling each other for the first time, the 24-year-old broke his rival’s serve five times, ultimately overpowering the Slovene in just under an hour in their first meeting.
The world number 438 drew the first blood in the second game and subsequently went 3-0 up. He then held remaining serves without facing any breakpoint and broke Gregorc’s serve again in the last game to bag the opener with a 6-2 win.
The Bulgarian went out of control in the last set and after unleashing barrage of groundstrokes, he stroke out all six games successively.
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