PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Czech #2 Radek Stepanek Pete Ziebron Images
Despite being ranked #27 in the world, Radek Stepanek still needed to qualify for the main draw of the Western & Southern Open Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. Stepanek raised his ranking from 54 to 27 by defeating world #7 Gael Monfils in the 500 level event in Washington DC earlier this month.
This week in Cincinnati, Stepanek played a couple of difficult opening sets in each of his qualifying matches, dispatching American Rhyne Williams 7-6(3) 6-1 and South African Rik De Voest 7-5 6-0. Next up, Stepanek would face lanky American John Isner in the opening round. The fast hard courts in Cincinnati suit Isner's powerful service game, however Stepanek would come into the encounter with 2 matches under his belt on the quick surface.
The first set was played at a rapid pace and after 41 minutes, Isner served at 5-6 to take the set to a tiebreaker. The first point went to the American however Isner would net a forehand on the next point and appeared to sulk a bit, holding on to that point as he proceeded to drop the next 3 points, handing the first set to Stepanek, 7-5.
In the next set, it was Stepanek's turn to feel the pressure of attempting to win his 6th game of the set as he was broken at 5-5 and Isner would serve out the set, squaring the match at one all. The first 2 sets took 94 minutes, setting the stage for the final set, which would take 70 minutes to play.
Stepanek would save all 3 break points in the set and like so many of Isner's matches, the set went to a tiebreaker. Stepanek would ultimately prevail in the breaker, 7-4 to win the match and advance to the 2nd round to play Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan.
The victory was Stepanek's 300th of his career and first since his win in San Jose in February 2009. Stepanek is coached by 1998 Australian Open Champion and former world #2 Petr Korda.
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