Marinko Matosevic overcomes Sebastian Rieschick to reach the semis – Caloundra International 2012 CH
Second seed, Marinko Matosevic, rallied past the German contender, Sebastian Rieschick, in troublesome three sets at the Caloundra International 2012 on Friday. He clobbered a 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over the 25-year-old to reach the final four at this
ATP Challenger Tour event taking place in Caloundra, Queensland.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina-born remained focused throughout the match. Despite losing the opener and trailing 3-5 in the second set, he hit back and not only tied the scores but dominated in the tie-breaker to bag the equaliser. Matosevic found his rhythm
in the final set and pulled out the victory with two early breaks of serve.
After earning this success, the local star not only avenged his loss at the Bangkok Challenger 2010 against Rieschick but also advanced into the semi-finals at the Caloundra Tennis Club.
The world number 256, Rieschick, rumbled in the opening set and went on a four games killing spree. However, he lost his concentration after this and gifted away his serves. After the Aussie broke Rieschick’s serve for the third time in the tenth game, the
eighth seed roared back and pocketed the last two games, eventually sealing the opener with a 7-5 win.
Crowd favourite, Matosevic re-focused in the following set. Apart from suffering the first blow in the seventh game at 3-4, he not only snatched his break back in the tenth game but also dragged the set to a tie-breaker. Matosevic outplayed the German in
it and subsequently won the equaliser with a 7-6(5) score line.
The 26-year-old carried his winning ways in the final set and after earning two early serve breaks, he took a 5-2 lead. Regardless of squandering his chance to close out on his serve in the follow-up game, he kept his serve in the tenth game and pocketed
the decider by winning six games to four.
Next up for the rising star is the third seed, James Duckworth, who also bounced over his opponent, Brydan Klein, in a three set thriller to set-up this clash. Duckworth dusted away four out of seven breakpoints he encountered and capitalise on five out
of twelve break chances to register a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.