Lukas Lacko of Slovakia ended the dream run of American Robby Ginepri with a workmanlike 7-6 (3), 6-4 win to qualify for the quarterfinals of the $400,000 ATP Aircel Chennai Open tennis tournament.
Ginepri, the 27-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Florida (US), and ranked 100, was unable to reproduce the kind of form and level of play that he did when ousting top seed Robin Soderling in the first round.
The 82nd ranked Lacko, 22, was the steadier of the two and played the big points better besides serving a tad sharper than his opponent to survive the 93-minute slugfest that otherwise was a match-up between equals.
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While games went with serve in the first set leading to the tiebreak, Lacko shrugged off a 1--3 deficit and broke Ginepri twice to pocket the match.