Vasek Pospisil outlasts Andreas Seppi in the first round – Rogers Cup 2012
Wild card entrant, Vasek Pospisil of Canada, took full advantage of his home ground and crowd, upsetting Italy’s 26th ranked player, Andreas Seppi, in the opening round of Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada on Monday.
The Canadian contender dropped the first set but then bounced back to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) and move to the round of 32.
Pospisil and Seppi held their serve in the opening six games of the match to equalise the score at 3-3. The Italian player hit a blow to Pospisil in the seventh game and capitalised on it to win 6-4.
Seppi banged in one ace and 56 percent of the first serves, converting 12 of the 18 of them into points. The 6ft 3in tall put away both break threats he came across and availed one of the two chances he created in the opener.
In the second set, Pospisil snatched a break in the fourth game to gain a 3-1 advantage but Seppi struck back immediately to even out the score at 3-3. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, the Italian failed to hold and lost it 4-6.
Pospisil pounded four aces but his first serve percentage was pathetic, as he kept it at just 44. The Canadian also made a lot of errors on his second deliveries, losing nine of the 18 points on them and making three double faults.
Ranked 104th in the world, Pospisil made an ideal start in the decider, winning first three games to build a 3-0 lead. However, he could not serve it out in the ninth and lost the following one too, levelling the score
at 5-5. The set was taken to a tie-breaker, where the Canadian claimed a late mini-break to win 7-6(6).
Pospisil needed two hours and 35 minutes to undo Seppi in a tough match.
Talking to the reporters after the match, the Canadian said, "I don't know what it is. The longer matches go sometimes the better I feel on the court and I start swinging freely and the muscle memory takes over kind of and I guess
I don't think as much and my abilities take over and it's probably an advantage for me."
He added, "It obviously was a very close match. I had the momentum in the second set and kind of gave it back to him and was able to raise my game. I had chances in the third and didn't take them, the early ones, but hung in there."
Pospisil will take on the seventh seed, Juan Monaco of Argentina, in the second round.
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