30.05.2011 18:46:48 | Russian Mikhail Youzhny advanced into the second round of Prostejov challenger after a nerve racking battle against Slovak Mark Semjan (ATP no. 236). Youzhny won with a tight result 7:5, 3:6, 7:5. In the third decisive set Semjan was leading 5:3, 30:15 but let Youzhny get off the hook with two double faults and one unconstrained mistake on the forehand side. At that point it was clear that the match was taking a Russian turn.
“It was a tough match, the centre court is very fast and I was in trouble to get my pace. Semjan made very few mistakes at the beginning but then he seemed overwhelmed by the lead as if he was afraid to win. I was lucky to beat him and I am happy it’s over. Now I hope to deliver better performances.” In the second round he is clashing with the defending champion Jan Hajek. “We played against each other several times but any match is different …” “It must be said that Youzhny fought with heart and we could see he really wanted to win but honestly speaking at the score of 3:5 I was seriously concerned about the possibility to lose seed no. 1 in the first round,” said tournament manager Jaroslav Navratil after the match.
