PETE ZIEBRON
Ukraine #2 Alexandr Dolgopolov Pete Ziebron Images
Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov defeated 4th seed Robin Soderling 16 63 61 46 62 in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open. Dolgopolov broke Soderling's service game 9 times and Soderling had only been broken once in his previous 3 matches. This is Dolgopolov's debut in the Aussie Open and only his 4th main draw appearance in a major.
In the previous round, Dolgopolov ousted 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 5 sets, exacting revenge on the Frenchman for a 5 set defeat in the 2nd round at Wimbledon last year. In that match, Dolgopolov rallied from a 2 set deficit and lost the 5th set 10-8.
Last year, Dolgopolov lost in the opening round of qualifying at the Australian Open. His ranking in January 2010 was 123rd. Dolgopolov reached a career high of 39 last July following a semifinal run at Eastbourne and the 2nd round defeat at Wimbledon to Tsonga. Dolgopolov entered the 2011 Australian Open ranked 46th.
Next up for Dolgopolov is #5 Andy Murray, who destroyed #11Jurgen Melzer and lost only 5 games in their 4th round match. Dolgopolov has had recent success against established ATP players and recorded the following 7 wins over top 20 opponents since Roland Garros.
- #4 Robin Soderling - Australian Open
- #13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Australian Open
- #18 Sam Querrey - Sydney
- #16 Nicolas Almagro - Shanghai Masters 1000
- #18 Marcos Baghdatis - Beijing Masters 1000
- #14 Mikhail Youzhny - Toronto Masters 1000
- #13 Fernando Gonzalez - Roland Garros
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