TENNIS – Lukas Rosol saved two match points to beat Jerzy Janowicz at Winston Salem in the warm-up tournament before the US Open. Rosol recovered from a set down and was twice on the brink of defeat but he managed to clinch the second title of his career. Diego Sampaolo
In the third game Janowicz faced two break points. He dropped his serve when he sent a forehand wide. At 2-2 Janowicz held his serve to love and took control of the set. Janowicz got a second break to go up 4-2. He had to fend off a break point before clinching the first set in 53 minutes.
In the second set Janowicz earned two break point chances but he failed to convert them. At 1-1 Rosol faced another break point chance. At 5-5 Rosol trailed 0-40 but he managed to claw his way back. In the tie-break Rosol took a 3-1 lead before wrapping up the breaker wit 7-3 in 51 minutes to force the match to the third set.
The decider went on serve on serve until 5-4. Janowicz got a chance to win at 5-4 40-15 but Rosol saved two match points on his serve. Rosol got three game points before winning the game to draw level to 5-5. The 10th game changed the match completely in Rosol’s favour. Rosol broke serve to take the edge and served for the match at 6-5. The Czech closed out the match with 7-5 with his 12th ace in two hour and 11 minutes. Janowicz played six matches in as many days and fatigue took its toll. Rosol got two walkovers due to injuries against Ryan Harrison in the second round and John Isner in the quarter final.
“Thing changed. If you have a chance and you don’t do it, you are mentally down.
“I am tired but pretty happy with the result. I didn’t start good but I finished strong. Jerzy has a big game with some big shots but I just focused on my game when I was serving. On his serve I really had no chances until the end of the match when he gave me a chance.”, said Rosol
The Czech player won his second title after Bucharest in 2013. “Losing a final is not going to happen three times in a row. I really wanted to have a title this year”, said Rosol
