Dancevic trounces Tursunov to reach Indy semis
Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:38
Frank Dancevic upset top seed Dmitry Tursunov 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships to set up a final four showdown with Sam Querrey.
The world No.27 had beaten Dancevic in the final of Eastbourne a week ahead of Wimbledon, but nine aces, 29 winners and three breaks against the patchy Tursunov serve helped the Canadian to recover after dropping the first set.
“This is my first hard court week and I felt a bit nervous,” admitted the world No.121, who has driven to his home in Niagara Falls from Indiana each day. “But I’ve been playing well from the first round. I’m glad I was able to play solid against Dmitry and close it out.”
After slipping a set behind, the 24-year-old began imposing himself on the match in the third game of the second when a Tursunov double-fault gave him a break for 2-1, and though the Russian broke back, Dancevic leveled the match in a tie-break before rolling through the third set.
“He started getting hold of my serve in the second set,” said Tursunov, the 2007 champion and 2008 finalist. “I had chances in the second set tiebreaker but I couldn’t convert them.
“He got lots of free points – he served well, I didn’t.”
Dancevic now faces No.3 seed Sam Querrey, who hammered 19 aces to beat Marc Gicquel 6-4 7-5. The Canadian won their only other meeting in Sydney two years ago, but Querrey has his eye on the prize this weekend.
“I might be favoured as the seed,” said the 22-year-old. “But everybody can play. I like my chances through, I’m playing well. But Frank is also playing great.
“This is my third year of reaching the semi-finals I’m finally hoping to make the jump into the final.”
In the other semi-final, 2005 champion Robby Ginepri faces John Isner after beating fellow American Alex Bogomolov 7-5 6-1.
Isner defeated Wayne Odesnik 7-5 6-7(2) 7-5 in the longest match of the tournament at more than two and a half hours.
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