• Delray Beach International

Korolev collapses as Nieminen progresses

Jarkko Nieminen pounced all over his opponent's second serve © Getty Images

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Jarkko Nieminen bounced back from a first set deficit to knock out No. 5 seed Evgeny Korolev in a truly remarkable match at the Delray Beach International.

Korolev forced the only break of a tight opening set in game 12 to take the advantage, but then his game completely fell to pieces as Nieminen fought back for a 5-7 6-1 6-0 victory.

Korolev's second serve proved his undoing as he won only one of 11 points during the second set, allowing Nieminen three breaks of serve. That statistic barely improved in the third as Nieminen took complete control, winning 70 per cent of the points on offer to progress to the quarter-finals.

Second-seed Ivo Karlovic won the serve-fest with Germany's Daniel Brands 7-6(8) 7-6(6). The match featured no service breaks, and Brands saved the only break point created. While Karlovic could not make an impression on his opponent's serve, he did outdo him in the stats department, where the Croat's 26 aces, 71% first serves in and 90% first serve points won made for impressive reading.

James Blake pleased the home fans with a 6-3 6-1 win over Robin Haase of the Netherlands in just under an hour.

Mardy Fish enjoyed a comfortable passage through round two as he defeated Mischa Zverev 6-2 6-4 in just over 80 minutes. Fish was by no means at his best against Zverev, conceding two breaks of serve, but his return game was functioning well as he pounced all over his opponent's second serve.

Latvian youngster Ernests Gulbis had absolutely no problems in his second round clash with Teimuraz Gabashvili, winning through 6-1 6-4 in less than 71 minutes.

Gulbis started superbly despite a hesitant first serve, breaking his opponent on three occasions to close out the first set with the minimum of fuss. Gabashvili did not create a single break point and served up four double faults as he buckled under pressure from his opponent.

Finally a solitary break point chance did arrive as Gabashvili put up a more solid fight in the second set, but Gulbis upped his first serve success rate to 63 per cent, and he accepted his only opportunity against the Gabashvili serve to close out the contest.

Also through is Jeremy Chardy of France, who defeated Santiago Giraldo 7-5 4-6 7-5.

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