Xavier Malisse dumps Alex Bogomolov Jr.; cruises into the semis – UNICEF Open 2011
Third seeded Belgian Xavier Malisse trashed American Alex Bogomolov Jr. in straight sets at UNICEF Open 2011, a grass court tournament held in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. He dominated throughout the match to register a 6-2, 6-4
victory over the 28-year-old American and eventually advance into the semi-finals on Friday.
30-year-old Belgian took eighty-three minutes to triumph over Bogomolov Jr. in straight sets at this ATP World Tour 250 series event. He was facing the 80thranked American for the first time and after earning this victory,
he took lead in their head-to-head series by 1-0. He prevailed throughout the match and sealed the deal by hammering five aces.
Malisse, ranked 39 places above his American rival, thundered into the opening set and easily bagged entire serves with blistering forehands from his box of tricks. He faced zero breakpoint and converted both breakpoint chances
to his advantage to seal the set with an assuring 6-2 score line. The Belgian clobbered a higher first serve share of 61 percent as compared to Bogomolov Jr.’s 45 percent and registered a spectacular 93 percent win on it.
The seed kept momentum flowing into the final set and smoothly held his opening serve in the second game. Despite losing his serves twice later in the set, he roared back by breaking American’s serve three times to clinch the set
with a 6-4 win. He displayed tremendous defensive skills as he saved ten out of twelve breakpoints conceded and converted three out of four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
A former top twenty player, Malisse made a tremendous start of the season as he reached final at Chennai in January before losing to third seed, Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in troublesome three sets. However, his form dipped steeply
afterwards and this is the first time he reached a quarterfinal spot in any tournament after Chennai.
Up next for the Belgian is Russian Dmitry Tursunov who triumphed over Colombian Santiago Giraldo in a three set thriller to reach this spot.
23-year-old Russian took almost two hours to register a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory by converting four out of seven breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
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