Tipsarevic, Youzhny advance while Granollers crashes out – St. Petersburg Open 2011
The fourth day of the 2011 St. Petersburg Open witnessed singles competitor’s play their matches with a hope to enter the second round of the tournament.
Vasek Pospisil (Canada) battled against Andreas Seppi (Italy) for a chance to advance in the competition. World number 52, Seppi, fought hard against world number 133, Pospisil, who was taking part in his only second ATP World
Tour event. Seppi came out victorious with 7-5 7-6(4).
In another match in the men’s singles first round match, Igor Andreev (Russia) took on Marcel Granollers (Spain). Granollers, who ranks at number 34 in the world, was defeated by world number 117, Andreev, quarterfinalist of the
2007 French Open. Spaniard Granollers outclassed by his Russian opponent as Andreev delivered nine aces and saved eleven out of fifteen breakpoints, winning the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(4).
Andreev’s victory is an upset as he eliminated the sixth-seeded Granollers out of race to the final. Struggling in the first set with his serve, Andreev was able to clinch a victory to advance into the second round.
The third match in the men’s singles, first round saw Carlos Alberto Berlocq (Argentina) play against Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany). Their encounter was the second in two weeks, which the German again won. Kohlschreiber, placed
at number 48 in the world, defeated Argentine Berlocq, ranked 71 in the world, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1. The German, who has yet to win his first Grand Slam, advanced into the second round of the St. Petersburg Open.
In the last match of the first round, Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) defeated Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-2, 7-5 in a one-sided affair. Rochus, unable to deliver a single ace could not also save a break point, but his opponent, the 27-year
old Serbian scored ten aces and saved five out seven break points.
In the men’s singles second round, Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) played his match against Adrian Mannarino (France). Ranked 86 in the world, Mannarino defeated 78th ranked Rosol, 6-2, 7-6 (5) and advanced into the next round. Rosol
was not at par in the first set as his shot selection were out of line, that is why he could only win two games in the opening set of the match. In the second set, however, Rosol did fought back and successfully entered the match into a tie-break, but the
23-year old Mannarino won the decisive point and knocked-out the Czech player from the St. Petersburg Open.
In the last match contested in the second round, Julien Benneteau (France) went head on against local player Mikhail Youzhny. The Russian delivered three aces as compared to French player’s six, but Youzhny, with support from his
home crowd, won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, ending Benneteau’s run in the St. Petersburg Open. The French did win the second set but that was not enough as the 29-year old Russian with a win/loss ratio of 24/21, advanced further into the tournament.
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