In the 1/8 finals of the challenger in Columbus, Yuri Rodionov from Austria will play against the representative of the Dominican Republic, Nicholas Hardt.
Nicholas Hardt
21-year-old Hardt in the match of the 1/16 finals, which was the night before last, was able to surprise and beat American Ryan Harrison in two sets. At the same time, Hardt immediately began to act stably on his serve, which helped Nicholas eventually catch the moment and make a break, and this in turn helped him win the set with a score of 6:4. In the second set, Harrison had a great chance to try to turn the course of the match, but Ryan ruined everything for himself. In the middle of the game, the American made a break and at some point led 5-2, but in the end Harrison could not serve properly for the set, allowed Hardt to win back, and then, in a tie-break, Nicholas brought the matter to an end. – 7:6 (7:3).
Yuri Rodionov
22-year-old Rodionov, in turn, in the match of the 1/16 finals, which was also on the evening of January 25, beat Canadian Brayden Schnur in three sets. The match was not very easy for Rodionov, but Yuri has long accustomed many to this. At the same time, the Austrian took the first set quite confidently - 6:4. In the second game, Rodionov already made mistakes, Yuri allowed the Cord to make two breaks and the Canadian did not refuse such a gift. At the same time, Rodionov saved a set once, he was able to recoup with the score 4:5 when he served the Cord. But then Yuri ruined everything for himself and after that, with the score 5:6 in favor of the Canadian, he lost the game on his serve. In the third set, Schnur and Rodionov already played quite carefully and kept their serve competently, it seemed that it might come to a tie-break, but at the very end Rodionov was still able to make a break, and then serve for the match – 7:5.
Forecast
Yuri Rodionov is a more high-status tennis player. The Austrian should not have any serious obstacles on the way to victory, only he can spoil everything for himself, but we will hope that this evening Yuri will still show stable tennis and succeed.