Yen-Hsun Lu stuns Alejandro Falla in qualifiers – Western and Southern Open 2012
Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu devastated the qualifying second seed, Alejandro Falla from Colombia, with a breadstick at the Western and Southern Open on Sunday. He jolted down a 7-5, 6-1 victory against the world number 54 to progress into the main draw at this
ATP Masters 1000 event held in Mason in Ohio, United States.
The qualifying 10th seed displayed brilliant abilities to outsmart Falla in their second meeting. The players last fought each other in Washington D.C. two years ago and after pocketing this match, Lu not only avenged his loss but also powered
into the main draw at this Emirates Airline US Open series event.
Lu enthusiastically entered the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati. He warded off both breakpoints he came across to keep his entire serves. The Taiwanese capitalised on one out of nine break chances in the last game to get the breakthrough and register
a 7-5 success in the opening set.
Ranked 74th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Lu lifted his game in the following set. After Falla held his serve in the second game, the Taiwanese unleashed flurry of forehands and went on a five-game rampage. He swiped his
entire serves without encountering any trouble and cashed in two out of three break chances to pull out the set with a breadstick.
The 28-year-old Taiwanese was clearly the better contestant throughout the match. He spilled fewer double faults and nudged up a slightly higher first serve share of 59 per cent as compared to his opponent’s 57 per cent. Lu also brilliantly marked 27 out
of 33 points on it and fired two vicious aces.
Lu will face off Poland’s Lukasz Kubot in the opening round.
The qualifying top seed, Jeremy Chardy, also became casualty of the day. He bowed out to the Italian contender, Fabio Fognini, in gruelling three sets in almost two hours. The French broke his rival’s serve five times but lost his serve six times, eventually
suffering a 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(5) loss.
Fognini on the other hand advanced into the main draw where he will encounter the German challenger, Florian Mayer.
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