Tsung-Hua Yang, Yong-Kyu Lim through to the semi-finals – Beijing International Challenger 2011
Chinese Taipei tennis player Tsung-Hua Yang battled past compatriot Ti Chen 6-4, 7-6 (0) on Friday to book his place in the semi-final of 2011 Beijing International Challengers here in Beijing, China.
Looking for a place in the last four at the ATP Challenger event; Yang made a very strong start to the match as he broke his rival in the very first game of the opening set. Breaking straight back, Chen also found an entry back
into the set as he levelled the set score at 3-3. Playing his natural game freely, Yang converted his second break chance of the set to take a crucial 5-4 lead, serving for the match. Hitting a blistering serve ace at 40-15 and 5-4, he pocketed the opener
to take deserving 1-0 lead in the set score.
The second set also followed a pretty similar pattern with both players struggling to break each other’s serve. Some highly competitive tennis was witnessed in the second set as the contestants held on to their service games until
the set went into a tie-breaker. Having the set score lead 1-0, Yang pressurised his opponent with his ferocious forehand and backhand winners all over the court. Claiming seven straight points in the tie-breaker, he completed a superb victory in a match that
lasted for nearly 2 hours on the hard court of Beijing Tennis Centre.
Yang had a superior serve and formidable defence. The 20-year-old executed his shot to perfection from the baseline. Every now and then he surprised his opponent with a well disguised drop shot. Firing 11 aces in the match, he
was able to hit his way out of trouble whenever he needed to. Hitting 66 per cent first serve, he took control of the rallies right from the start and then placed his shots at will. Saving six out of seven break points in the match, world number 250 worked
hard for every available point.
In his next match-up at the tournament, he will be facing Korean Yong-Kyu Lim. To achieve similar results, he must try and bring more consistency in his game play.
Qualifier Yong-Kyu Lim also made it to the semi-finals after he came back from a set deficit to down the Slovakian Kamil Capkovic 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Friday.
Lim made a slow start to the match. Making too many unforced errors early on, the Korean gifted the opening set to his opponent within first half an hour. However, from there on, he raised the level of his game and he claimed next
twelve out of fifteen games to seal an emphatic victory.
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