Tie-break joy for Bastl

Bastl is through to his first Basel quarter-final Keystone

Swiss number five George Bastl fought his way into the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament on Thursday with an impressive straight sets win over Bohdan Ulihrach.

Bastl (ATP 125) needed two tie-breaks to complete victory, but the nature of the Swiss player’s performance made him a deserved winner against the Czech world number 33.

Playing patiently throughout the match, Bastl was happier to let his higher-ranked opponent go for the dramatic shots and, with Ulihrach struggling to find his range, it was a tactic that paid off.

With little to separate the two players in the first 12 games of the opening set, Bastl hit a great return at the start of the resulting tie-break before two overhit shots by his opponent gifted him the first set 7-6 (7-3).

Cool in the heat

With four Swiss players in the second round to cater for, the tournament organisers in Basel had been forced to schedule Bastl’s match with Ulihrach into the arena’s somewhat stuffy second court. Sweating profusely, the Swiss number five needed to change his shirt three times but in tennis terms at least managed to keep his cool.

In the second set, Bastl was immovable, conceding just three points off his six service games and victory could have been his a lot earlier if Ulihrach hadn’t managed to defend two break points in the fifth game of the set.

The Czech needn’t have bothered. As if to prove that his first superiority in the first set tie-break hadn’t been a fluke, Bastl ran riot in the second. A great return to Ulihrach’s first serve saw the Swiss take an early lead, with strong serving and more patient play seeing that lead stretch to 5-0.

Celebrations

Ulihrach salvaged just a single point before once again mishitting at the end of a long rally, prompting celebrations by Bastl and his small band of followers on court two.

In what will be his first appearance in the Basel quarter-finals, Bastl will now meet the winner of the second round match between Andrei Pavel and Julien Boutter.

by Mark Ledsom, Basel