Sport

Koubek springs a surprise on Ancic

Kamesh Srinivasan

Dmitry Tursunov, Tomas Berdych make it to the semifinals

MUMBAI: Your reputation, a big game and a high ranking are no guarantee on the court. You have to go out and slug it out every time, and find a way to win against players of different quality.

The second seed Mario Ancic, ranked 11 in the world, learnt a hard lesson in his professional career as he ended up on the wrong side in a nerve-wracking battle against the 118th ranked Stefan Koubek of Austria in the quarterfinals of the $380,000 Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open at the CCI courts here on Friday.

The 29-year-old Koubek, a top-20 player in 2000, put his left-hander serve to good use, throwing in plenty of guts to upset the Croat, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Koubek has been busy on the Challenger circuit this season, and had nothing exceptional of note but for a final appearance in a Tour event at Zagreb. Yet, he had the hunger and the drive to get past the 22-year-old.

Koubek arrested the Croat whenever he made an injudicious approach to the net, with fabulous passing shots and well-measured lobs.

Thrilling decider

In a spell-binding decider, the Austrian broke Ancic, a quarterfinalist both at French Open and Wimbledon this year, in the sixth game with a delectable drop. Ancic did save two matchpoints on his serve in eighth game and played strong enough to serve out the match in the next despite facing a breakpoint.

Koubek set up his third matchpoint with a stunning drop and Ancic obliged by missing the line. The crowd gave Koubek a standing ovation.

"It was a great match and I got a little bit lucky in the second and third sets. Am happy to win. He can serve from the third floor and I may be doing all the running, but it was my day today,'' said Koubek, a dwarf at 5' 9'' as compared to his opponent.

Berdych advances

When the tall men serve close to their best, they generally do not get into any trouble. The third seed Tomas Berdych exemplified this observation, as he wriggled out of a tight corner in the second set to outwit the speedy Bjorn Phau of Germany in straight sets.

Having raced away with the first set, firing three aces in the ninth game, after having wrested the initiative with a break in the second game, the 6' 5'' tall Berdych was understandably a bit complacent.

The 21-year-old Czech who does not want to be remembered only for beating Roger Federer in the Athens Olympics two years ago, was on the cruise mode as he raced to a 5-3 lead with a break in the fifth game. However, he allowed his concentration to dip a bit and almost paid dearly.

Serving for the match, Berdych dropped serve to open a new avenue for his hard-working German and gave him hopes of a third set if not a second semifinal entry of the season.

Tightening game

Realising that he was getting into unnecessary trouble, Berdych tightened his game and broke Phau right back with some authoritative strokeplay. The acrobatic Phau made a backhand return winner in the next game, perhaps as a last hurrah, as Berdych sailed home without any fuss.

"I didn't concentrate well in that tenth game, and made four mistakes. Am glad that I was able to focus on the next game and get the break back. I am tall and if I don't serve, I don't need to be on court. When my serve works, the rest of the game is fine,'' observed Berdych after his second career win over the German.

In another lively encounter, Davis Cup hero Dmitry Tursunov tamed qualifer James Auckland of Britain in three sets after losing the first. It was the third semifinal entry of the season for the 23-year-old Russian following similar efforts in Los Angeles and Washington.

The results: Singles (quarterfinals): Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) bt James Auckland 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Bjorn Phau (Ger) 6-3, 7-5; Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Mario Ancic (Cro) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

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