By Anand Philar, IANS
Chennai : Fourth seed Mihail Youzhny struggled to an unimpressive 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France en route to the quarter-finals of the $436,000 ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament, here Wednesday.
Joining Youzhny in the round of eight was Florent Serra of France who beat Belgian Kristof Vliegen 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (1) in the outside court.
Youzhny, the 19th ranked Russian, played an up-and-down game that oscillated between mediocrity and brilliance. However, he got his act together not a moment soon and had something to spare at the wire.
The 25-year-old Russian trailed 0-5 in the first set, but won seven games in a row, dropping just three points in the last five games. But, quite inexplicably, he turned error-prone in the second set, twice dropping his serve before picking himself up in the final set.
In the decider, Youzhny was seen at his best as he drilled winners that were a mixture of sheer power and delicate touch at the net. Service breaks in the second and eighth games helped him past the finish line.
On the other hand, Roger-Vasselin, ranked 97 on the ATP circuit, had his chances, but caved in under pressure to lose the first set despite a substantial lead.
The decisive moment came in the seventh game when Roger-Vasselin doubled faulted, besides indulging in long rallies that only helped Youzhny to get back into the match. A net-chord return also went against the Frenchman as Youzhny’s game gained in stature.
In the second, though, the 24-year-old Frenchman played a near flawless game, even as Youzhny faded with a series of unforced errors. Roger-Vasselin broke his opponent in the fourth and sixth games to even the scores.
However into the third set, Roger-Vasselin had very little to offer and he played into his opponent’s hand, muffing sitters and repeatedly getting passed at the net.
Youzhny admitted that he played way below his best. He said he was a bit rusty after a December layoff. “My game was too much up-and-down, but hopefully, I will play better in the next match,” he said.
Looking back on the first set, he opined that he struggled to get into his rhythm. “I was not fast enough in my movements, but at 0-5, I suddenly regained my form and played well. But in the second, I just could not lift my game and I was rather inconsistent. I am happy that my game came together in the third set,” he said.
In the next round, Youzhny awaits the winner of the match between defending champion Xavier Malisse and sixth seed Jurgen Melzer to be decided later tonight.
In doubles action, Marin Cilic of Croatia and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan defeated India’s wild card entry pair of Mustafa Ghouse and Karan Rastogi 6-4, 7-6 (1) to enter the quarter-finals.