Mudassir Vs. Nauman
In front of a packed house, Mudassir "Muddy" Akram took on Nauman "No Man" Rashid in an all pakistan clash. Although their country is not renowned for producing world class talent, these two are proving to the skeptics that might be about to change. Nauman is coming off a resounding mauling of Ada Costa 6-0 6-0 in the previous round and is looking pretty good for an upset. He is seeded 7th to Mudassirs' 2nd but according to him "this is a whole new ball game now".Mudassir has not practiced a whole lot thiss eason and Nauman intended to fully exploit that fact.
In the pre-match interview, Nauman told the press that although he recognized that Mudassir was a tough nut to beat, but he had detected some of his weaknesses and was not entirely sure Mudassir was focused and "right in the head". Mudassir, when told about these comments from his adversary, retorted that there was nothing wrong with his head but rather Nauman should focus on the game and not trying to upset his opponents.
In an address to the two contestants before the game, the Pakistani government representative at the courts expressed his wish that whoevere wins the clash will enhance the reputation of the nation.We shall see.
The match started with both players very cautious. Mudassir managed to win the first two games without too much fuss. But Nauman made a comeback and win the 3rd game to make it 2-1. Mudassir managed to make it 4-1 but was having lots of problems with his serves and had another break as Nauman fought back to make it 4-2. Mudassir finally relaxed enough to close out the set 6-2 but there were quite a few boos emanating from certain sections of the crowd, Swaroop pawar being the vocal leader.
Nauman looked determined to buck the trend in the 2nd set and immediately held serve to lead 1-0. he then had a chance to make it 2-0 by breaking Mudassir but was unable to hold onto a 40-15 lead in the game and eventually gave up the game after 3 deuces. From then on, Mudassir raced onto a 3-1 lead again and finally got his serves right and started mixing it up a little. the crows did the Pakistani version of the mexican wave a few times. Mudassir took a commanding 5-1 lead and smashed his way to an eventually emphatic 6-2 6-1 win.
Mudassir now goes onto face Dr. Barreau, the conqueror of Alfred on friday in the clash of the two possible semifinalists. Alfred will be keeping a keen eye on that one.
Nauman now has an uphill battle to qualify. He has to beat Alfred on thursday and then hope that Alfred and Dr. Barreau beat Mudassir to have any chance of qualifying. Of course, he can also beat Dr. Barreau to reach the semis. We think not.
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