Yuri Schukin outplays Dusan Lojda to reach the semi-finals – Poznan Porsche Open 2011 CH
32-year-old Kazakh veteran, Yuri Schukin, won his encounter against Dusan Lojda of Czech Republic in the quarter-finals of Poznan Porsche Open, being played at Poznan, Poland, on Saturday afternoon.
The exciting contest was dominated by Schukin most of the time, as he clinched a straight sets victory 6-4, 6-3, to move into the round of four of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event. The Czech competitor
hung in the game for one hour and fifteen minutes of play before he submitted the game to the hard hitting Schukin in the second set.
Schukin’s points winning proficiency in the contest was phenomenal, as he secured 28 out of 33 first serve points in the matchup to come out as the winner in the end. The opening set took off with commanding aggression from the
two contestants and a series of serve breaks was seen right away. Schukin drew the first blood in the very first game of the contest, only to be broken in the next game. The Kazakh regained in the advantage by stinging another break point in the third game
to lead 2-1.
Schukin continued to play aggressive tennis and brilliantly reeled off 15 out of 17 first serve points in the opening set. Lojda couldn’t recover from the earlier damage done by his opponent’s break point conversion and eventually
dropped the first set at 4-6 to let Schukin a 1-0 lead in the contest.
The second set began with cautious tennis from the contestants, avoiding risky moves and playing calculated strokes. A regular game took the scores to 3-3 and Schukin suddenly shifted his gears to take hold of the game. The Kazakh
competitor broke his opponent’s serve twice in a row to bag the second set at 6-3, rocketing away to victory in an assertive manner to book a semi-final berth at Poznan Porsche Open.
Schukin will face either Vincent Millot of France or the third seed Rui Machado of Purtugal in the semi-final clash. The clash between Millot and Machado will take place on Saturday and the winner will take on Schukin for a spot
in the final of the tournament.
Tags: