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8/20/09 1:05 AM | Ricky Dimon
Paul-Henri Mathieu beats Ivo Karlovic in straight sets on Wednesday in Cincinnati. Mathieu is joined in the third round by Tomas Berdych, a three-set winner over Philipp Petzschner.
Paul-Henri Mathieu d. Ivo Karlovic 7-6(9), 6-4
Mathieu needed one hour and 37 minutes on Wednesday afternoon to withstand Karlovic's serve and set up a possible third-round meeting with Rafael Nadal at the Masters Series Cincinnati. The first set was especially competitive, with neither player able to break serve. Mathieu saved one break point on the way to a tiebreaker, while Karlovic was in devastating form on serve and never came close to getting broken. Both men were hopeless in the return game during the 'breaker until Mathieu struck decisively with his opponent serving at 9-10. Karlovic followed a second serve into the net and sent a forehand volley well past the baseline.
No break points were had in set two until Karlovic served to stay in the match at 4-5. Not quite as prolific with his first deliveries during the second frame of play, the 6'10'' Croat finally cracked at the most crucial of times. Mathieu capitalized on his first match point at ad-out to finish off the proceedings in style. Karlovic ended the day with 23 aces (18 in the first set) and just one double-fault, while Mathieu fired eight aces without double-faulting. The 31st-ranked Frenchman will get Nadal on Thursday if the Spaniard is able to defeat Andreas Seppi.
Tomas Berdych d. Philipp Petzschner 7-6(8), 6-7(7), 6-4
Berdych defeated Petzschner in three sets for the second time in two weeks, advancing in a thriller after two hours and 40 minutes on Wednesday in Cincinnati. The two players exchanged one break of serve each in the first two sets and took turns squandering huge leads in the tiebreakers. Petzschner had a double-break lead in the first-set decider, but let Berdych back in it and ended up losing 10 points to eight. In the second-set 'breaker, Berdych went up six points to three but blew a trio of match points. The 18th-ranked Czech missed another chance at 7-6 and promptly lost the set two points later.
Despite the disappointment, Berdych bounced back in set three and used a single break to earn a hard-fought victory. He won 14 of 16 first-serve points in the final set and took nine of 15 second-serve return points. Berdych finished with 14 aces and three double-faults, while Petzschner struck nine aces and also double-faulted three times. Next up for Berdych is qualifier Chris Guccione.
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' wow, this will be a fine one to watch. i know it's quite hot out there, poor guys, but hopefully things could work for the better. i'm pleased with mat's performance beating the legend, and similarly tom is getting there....keep it rolling boys. '
tauojtcer , 8/20/09 2:10 AM