Tata Open Maharashtra: Ymer stuns top seed Karatsev
Pune: Sweden’s Elias Ymer stunned top seed and world no.15 Aslan Karatsev of Russia in straight sets to enter the singles quarterfinals of the 2022 Tata Open Maharashtra at the Balewadi Stadium here on Thursday. Ymer registered a shocking 6-2,7-6(7-3) win over Karatsev in the a second round match that lasted for one hour and […]
Pune: Sweden’s Elias Ymer stunned top seed and world no.15 Aslan Karatsev of Russia in straight sets to enter the singles quarterfinals of the 2022 Tata Open Maharashtra at the Balewadi Stadium here on Thursday.
Ymer registered a shocking 6-2,7-6(7-3) win over Karatsev in the a second round match that lasted for one hour and 36 minutes. The 25-year-old Ymer, who came through the qualifiers, started the game well and took an early 3-1 lead against Karatsev, who struggled to find his rhythm at the South Asia’s only ATP 250 event.
With 76 per cent of service points won, compared to Karatsev’s 47 per cent, Ymer comfortably bagged the opening set. The star Russian, who upstaged world no.1 Novak Djokovic on his home court to enter the Serbia Open final last year, tried to forge a comeback but Ymer showed phenomenal reflexes, coupled with some powerful shots to level the scores at 4-4 in the second set. Ymer then held his serves and forced Karatsev, the first player in an Open Era to reach the Grand Slam semifinal on debut at 2021 Australian Open, to a tie-break.
“I was more focused on my serves. When you serve well, you always win matches. I think the serve was the key,” Ymer said after his match. World no.163 Ymer started strongly in the tie-breaker by racing to a 3-0 lead and then maintained his fine touch to complete a sensational victory.
Meanwhile, defending champion Jiri Vesely, who received opening-round bye, started his campaign with a confident 6-3 6-4 win against Bernabe Zapata Miralles. Sixth-seeded Emil Ruusuvuori also had an easy outing against qualifier Vit Kopriva, securing a 6-3, 6-3 victory during a lopsided last-16 contest. Later in the evening, star Indian singles player Yuki Bhambri will look to secure a quarter-final berth as he up against eight-seed Stefano Travaglia in the second round.
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