Vasek Pospisil, Rik De Voest advance to the main draw – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Vasek Pospisil beats Maxime Authom 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Ninth seed Vasek Pospisil survived the scare in the first set to overcome Maxime Authom of Belgium 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final qualifier at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday.
The Canadian required two hours and six seconds to oust his opponent in a close contest.
Authom and Pospisil broke each other once in the first eight games of the opener to equalise the score at 4-4. The Belgian, Authom, hit another blow and grabbed it 6-4.
Pospisil fought back in the second set, grasping two of the total three breaks of serve to win it 6-4.
The Canadian had the winning momentum on his side. He made the final breakthrough and capitalised on it to clinch the decider 6-3.
Pospisil bombarded the Belgian with five aces in the match. He bagged 32 of the 43 first serve and 21 of the 38 second return points. On the other hand, Authom’s serve was the cause of his own destruction, as he committed a horrible
four double faults.
The Canadian is pitted against world number 93, Nicolas Mahut of France, in the first match of the main draw.
Rik De Voest defeats Izak Van Der Merwe 7-5, 6-3
11th seed Rik De Voest also made it to the main draw, as he ousted world number 132 Izak Van Der Merwe in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in the final qualifier.
The two South Africans, Voest and Van Der Merwe, exchanged lusty blows on a number of occasions in the first set and exchanged a couple of breaks of serve in the first 10 games of the opener, levelling the score at 5-5. Voest allowed
his compatriot to claim just two points in the next couple of games, sealing it 7-5.
After winning the opener, the South African had the intentions of finishing the match quickly, snatching a break in the very first game of the second set. On the other hand, Van Der Merwe was in no mood to lose easily, as he bounced
back in the next to tie the score at 1-1. The scores remained at even terms till 3-3 but then it was all Voest show as he claimed next three games to capture the set 6-3. The South African needed one hour and 28 minutes to post a convincing win over his countryman.
Voest is drawn to face another qualifier, Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, in the opening encounter of the main round.
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