The quarterfinals got underway Thursday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, and it began with quite a bang. Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, who defeated defending champion David Ferrer earlier in the tournament, was the first to book a spot into the semifinals after upsetting seventh-seeded Jeremy Chardy.
Marchenko Nearly Delivers A Bagel Set
Despite the disparity in rankings between the two, Chardy at 31 and Marchenko at 94, both players had the groundstrokes to make this match a tight one. Early on, Marchenko was brimming with confidence by getting the break of serve early on to go up 2-0.
A beautifully placed slice approach forced the Frenchman deep and to hit a lob. The Ukrainian stepped up and easily put away the overhead to get the break. You could tell the timing was bit off on Chardy’s forehand early on as he missed a couple of sitters on some returns that shots that were floated back by the Ukrainian. The world number 91 extended his lead to 3-0 using his punishing forehand to attack the Chardy’s backhand.
The Ukrainian earned two more break points after a forehand return winner down the line just froze the Frenchman. Another forehand winner gave Marchenko the break and 4-0 lead. Chardy had an opening at 0-30 in Marchenko’s following service game but four straight points gave the Ukrainian a 5-0 lead.
Chardy chose a fantastic time to whip out his first ace, saving set point down 30-40 on serve. He was able to hold to finally get on the board in the first set. Luck took a turn towards the Frenchman’s side this time after a net-cord winner and an easy forehand from the Ukrainian missed for two break points. Chardy converted on the second to get one of the two breaks back. Chardy felt the momentum on his side as he blasted his way to a love hold in just under 90 seconds but was still down 3-5.
The nerves that Marchenko showed when serving out for the set for the first time didn’t show. A love hold closed out the set 6-3. Both men totaled the same number of winners in the set, nine. However, the unforced errors were the telling story with Chardy hitting eight more than Marchenko who only hit five unforced.
Marchenko Marches On To The Semis
The second set was much more even with Chardy playing much better tennis in the set. It was even throughout as both men broke each other. Marchenko broke for a set and break lead only to be pipped back by the Frenchman for 3-3. Before that, the Ukrainian had his lower back checked out by the trainer down 1-2 in the set.
Dominance on serve continued after the breaks as neither man reached 30 in the final six service games, forcing a breaker. Like the opening set, Marchenko raced out to a 5-0 lead. Chardy was able to rally it back to 3-6, but Marchenko sealed the match when Chardy’s forehand return sailed wide to take the match 6-3, 7-6(3).