Yasutaka Uchiyama battle past Fei Yun Liao into the final qualifier – OEC Kaohsiung 2012 CH
Top seed, Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan, survived the thrashing in the second set to overcome world number 1391, Fei Yun Liao, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round of the qualifying draw at the OEC Kaohsiung Challenger in Chinese Taipei
on Sunday. It took the Japanese an hour and 52 minutes to beat his opponent.
Uchiyama and Liao started in a steady manner, holding their serve in the first four games of the match to level the score at 2-2. The Japanese raised the level of his game after that, as he captured four successively to seal it
6-2.
The right-hander did not hit any ace and committed a couple of double faults. He delivered just 50 percent of the first serves but succeeded in pocketing 10 of the 11 points on them. The Japanese did not give Liao any chance to
break and availed two of the four he created in the opener.
Uchiyama and Liao did not lose their serve in the first seven games of the second set, taking the score to 4-3 in favour of the Taiwanese. Liao grabbed a break and capitalised on it to win 6-3.
The 18-year-old banged in three aces and 56 percent of the first serves, snatching 15 of the 19 points on them in the second set. Liao also performed decently on the returns, claiming eight of the 18 first and seven of the 17 second
ones.
After losing the second set pretty badly, Uchiyama regained his form in the decider, as he broke the Taiwanese in the second game and consolidated on it to build a 3-0 lead. Liao did not surrender and fought back, capturing three
consecutively to even out the score at 3-3. Uchiyama struck the final flow in the eighth game and served it out at 5-3.
The Japanese fired a couple of aces but also committed the same number of double faults. The 19-year-old put away one of the two break threats he came across and utilised two of the seven opportunities he got in the final set.
Uchiyama will take on either Hung-Yuan Hsu or Daniel King-Turner in the final qualifier.
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