Kratochvil sets sights on Clement
Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil says he is confident of seeing off French world number 13 Arnaud Clement in the second round of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament.
After coming from behind to beat Spanish world number 24 Albert Portas in Tuesday’s opening round action, the Swiss number two told swissinfo he was ready to cause another upset against Clement on Thursday.
“I’ve only got two more tournaments left this year, so I’m going to be giving it everything I’ve got,” Kratochvil vowed. “I beat Arnaud near his hometown earlier this season in Marseilles and I’m sure not going to let him beat me here in my homeland.”
Against Portas, Kratochvil came from a set down before blasting the Spaniard off the court, winning a second set tie-break 7-1 and dropping just one game in the deciding set. Looking ahead to his encounter with Clement, the 22-year-old from Bern promised that the Basel crowd hadn’t seen the best of him yet.
Mentally strong
“I think I can play a little faster, relax a bit more and go for the winners more than I did against Portas. The first round is never easy. But I think I did a good job mentally and that’s important if you want to go all the way in this tournament.”
Kratochvil’s thoughts on going all the way in Basel might have sounded like groundless optimism a few weeks ago. But the Swiss number two’s recent performances have lent him a new credibility.
Appearances in the finals of the ATP events in Shanghai and Tokyo (falling in the latter to US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt) have propelled Kratochvil into the world’s top 50 and his ambitions clearly don’t end there.
“Those good results have definitely given me a new confidence,” Kratochvil told swissinfo. “My goal at the start of the year was to make it into the top 50 and now I’ve done that. At the end of the season, I’m going to have my first real beach holiday in five years with the aim of coming back fresh next year with even higher goals.”
by Mark Ledsom, Basel
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