Schwärzler on fire

First smashed his racket, then turned the match around

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Joel Schwärzler played a crazy match at the start of the ATP Challenger in the North Macedonian capital Skopje against Sergej Fomin (Usb/ ATP no. 654). The Vorarlberg native, whose nerves were on edge at times, was already trailing 5:7, 2:5 before the tide turned completely.

After the 18-year-old, who reached a new all-time high of 664th in the ATP world rankings published on Monday, had lost the first set 5:7, he missed two break points at 1:1 in the second set. The result: Joel's head racket flew for the first time. 
Shortly afterwards, he had to give up his service after an unforced error, which resulted in him completely smashing his racket(in the video from 1:53:50). The match seemed to be over. Fomin, who had beaten Joel's touring coach Gerald Melzer in the qualifiers, pulled away to 5:2 and had a match point at 5:3 - but missed it.

Eight games in a row
The turning point came when the 18-year-old ÖTV shooting star, who had regained his usual strength, took five games in a row to win the second set 7:5.
The deciding set began with a 16-minute "monster game", which Schwärzler finally won with his fourth break point. After he managed another break to make it 3:0, the completely unnerved Fomin retired early and the Vorarlberg player was the winner after just under 130 minutes of play.
Turkish number two seed Ergi Kirkin (ATP no. 258) now awaits in the round of 16. The 25-year-old beat Luka Mikrut (Croatia) 6:4 and 7:6 (8) after a tough battle.