New Delhi: Swedish player Elias Ymer stunned top-seeded Russian player Aslan Karatsev as he defeated the World No.15 in straight sets and stormed into the quarter-finals of the 2022 Tata Open Maharashtra at the Balewadi Stadium, Pune, on Thursday, February 03, 2022.
Ymer handed Karatsev a shocking 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) defeat in the singles second-round match that lasted one hour and 36 minutes. The 25-year-old Ymer started the game well and took an early 3-1 lead against the Russian, who struggled to find rhythm in the opening set.
Karatsev committed five double faults and gave away the lead to Ymer, who won 76% service points compared to 47% by Karatsev and comfortably bagged the opening set with 6-2 points.
Though the Russian tried to forge a comeback, Ymer showed phenomenal reflexes and resisted with powerful shots to level scores 4-4 in the second set. Ymer then held his serves and forced Karatsev into a tiebreak.
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 and sent Karatsev packing with 7-6 (7-3) points.
“I was more focussed on my serves. When you serve well, you always win matches. I think the service was the key,” Ymer said after his match.
“He (Elias) played well. I didn’t start the match well and tried to find a solution in the second set to get back into the game,” Karatsev said. The Russian had upstaged World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to enter the Serbia Open finals last year.
Meanwhile, N Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan defeated compatriots Arjun Kadhe and Purav Raja 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round on Wednesday, February 02, 2022. The Indian duo entered the semifinals of the Tata Open Maharashtra 2022 as their opponents Gianluca Mager and Emil Ruusuvuori withdrew from the last-eight match due to an injury.
(Avya Mathur)
