Friday, September 19, 2008
Having dropped the first set and down a minibreak in a second-set tiebreak, things looked bleak for Benedikt Dorsch in his quarterfinal match against fourth-seeded John Isner at the Waco Tennis Challenger on Thursday.
But the former Baylor all-American got the minibreak back, saved a match point and then took the set with a backhand passing shot. He rode that momentum to an early break of the hard-serving Isner in the third — his only break of the match — and a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 win.
I lost to (Isner) twice before, and it was almost exactly the same. When you get into a tiebreak against him, it’s difficult because you know exactly what’s coming,” said Dorsch, the seventh seed. “He’ s going to try to hit every ball as hard as he can, and if one goes in, you’re in big trouble. Fortunately I came up with some good saves and some good passing shots to save (myself) in the second set and played a pretty solid third.”
After dropping the first set, Dorsch got much more aggressive. That was especially true of his return games, where he began chipping returns and charging the net. Dorsch also often tried to move use a greater variety of shots and keep the 6-foot-9 Isner moving.
“I thought I was a little too passive in the first set, where I hoped he would just lose the points,” Dorsch said. “I decided to put a little more pressure on him, going behind him and making him move because he’s long and not that great of a mover. That took a lot of pressure off me because when I’m at the net it’s pretty hard to get by me, especially when you don’t move so well.”
Dorsch will face second-seeded Vince Spadea, a 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6) winner over Peter Polansky, in the second match after 6 p.m. today in the semifinals.
Baylor’s pair of Dominik Mueller and Jurica Grubisic fell 6-0, 6-0 to Scott Oudesma and Tim Smyczek in the quarterfinals.
Today’s play begins at noon with the doubles semifinal match between Oudesma/Smyczek and Alberto Francis/Nicholas Monroe. that will be followed by the other men’s singles semifinal between Alex Bogomolov Jr. and sixth-seeded Joseph Sirianni.
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