ATP Sofia: Marius Copil edges Stan Wawrinka. Ebden overpowers tough junior
Playing against each other for the first time, Marius Copil has scored the first win over Stan Wawrinka, coming from a set down to score a 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win in an hour and 47 minutes for the place in the second round. In the clash of the last year's finalist and semi-finalist, there was only one break of serve on each side and Stan won 12 points more than his rival, building that lead after a perfect opening set before losing the crucial points in the rest of the encounter to hit an exit door. The Swiss lost 19 points on serve overall and he fends off six out of seven break points, losing serve once in the decider to seal his fate at this tournament.
Copil fought well after the opening set and he won the second set tie break 7-5, standing two points away from the defeat before closing the set and outplaying Stan in set number three to reach the second round. Wawrinka was untouchable in the opening set, winning the first 15 points on serve and breaking Marius at love in game six to open a 4-2 lead. Three service winners were everything Stan needed in game nine to seal the opener, marching towards the finish line when he created two break points in the third game of the second set.
Copil saved those to stay alive and despite wasting three break chances in the following game he served well by the end of the set to reach a tie break where they were no mini-breaks in the opening ten points. Serving at 5-5, Stan sprayed a backhand mistake and Marius forced an error in the following point to win the breaker 7-5 and send the match into a decider. There, we saw nine good holds and one loose service game from Wawrinka who got broken in the third game when his backhand finished in the net, without a chance to pull it back by the end of the match.
Serving at 5-4, Marius converted the third match point with a service winner to seal the deal and move into the second round where he will face Alexander Lazarov or Fernando Verdasco. In the second match of the first round, Matthew Ebden needed two hours and 19 minutes to defeat the 17-year-old Bulgarian Adrian Andreev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, trailing 4-2 in the tie break before winning five of the next six points to avoid an upset. Andreev got the opportunity to play in front of the home crowd for the second year in a row and he barely missed a chance to become the first player born in 2001 with a win at the ATP tournament, losing his focus in the decisive moments despite a great effort.
Matthew fired 14 aces but also nine double faults and we saw four breaks on each side, with the youngster defending the second serve more efficiently to almost earn his maiden ATP win. The Aussie lost just seven points on serve in the opening set, never facing a break point and stealing Adrian's serve after a rushed backhand error from a junior in game six. Serving at 5-3, Matthew held at love to grab the set and move closer to the finish line, hoping for more of the same in set number two as well. They traded early breaks there and we saw three in a row in the closing stages, two from the Bulgarian who bounced back to win the set 6-4 and prolong the encounter.
Unlike in the opener, Ebden wasn't that effective behind the initial shot and he hit a double fault in game eight to give serve away, suffering another break after a poor volley at 4-5 to hand the set to Andreev. The youngster pulled a break back in set number three to level the score at 4-4, looking good to perform a triumph when he opened a 4-2 lead in the deciding tie break. He couldn't endure the pressure, though, hitting a double fault in the eighth point and dropping three points in a row while leading 5-4 to send Ebden over the finish line when he netted an easy forehand in the 12th point.
Monday's results:
Final qualifying round results:
[1]Yannick Maden (GER) vs Franko Skugor (CRO) 6-3 4-6 7-6(5) [2]Stefano Travaglia (ITA) vs [7]Egor Gerasimov (BLR) 6-4 4-6 6-4 [WC]Alexander Lazarov (BUL) vs [5]Luca Vanni (ITA) 7-6(6) 3-6 7-5 Daniel Brands (GER) vs [4]Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-4 7-6(9)
First round results:
Marius Copil (ROU) vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4 Matthew Ebden (AUS) vs [WC]Adrian Andreev (BUL) 6-3 4-6 7-6(5)
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2GbpW9w
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