2011 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship: Florian Mayer, Philipp Petzschner win first round matches
World number 38, German Florian Mayer advanced to the second round of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. He beat left handed Finn Jarko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2 in his first round match played here at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre
in Dubai.
The first set saw both players breaking each other’s serve on a number of occasions but it was Mayer who edged past his opponent and capitalised three of the six break points he received compared to two out of seven by Nieminen.
Mayer made the most of his huge serves by hitting four aces and winning 56% of the points on his first serve. His opponent was unable to hit a single ace in first set. Nieminen hit two double faults and helped Mayer to close the first set 6-4.
The second set was even easier for the German, who did not face a single break point throughout the set. Mayer converted two of the four break points he received and won the second set 6-2. He hit two aces and 61% of the first
serves.
With this win, 27-year-old Mayer improved his head to head record to 3-4 against his more experienced rival Nieminen, who is 29 years old. Their last meeting was also a success for Mayer, who defeated Nieminen in three sets on
that occasion.
Mayer will face either seventh seed Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis or Kazakh Andrey Golubev in second round.
Another German, Philipp Petzschner cruised to the second round when he defeated Italian Andreas Seppi. Petzschner faced tough competition in his first round match and needed three sets to get past his opponent. He came up after
losing the first set and won the match 3-6, 7-6, 6-2.
Seppi got the better of Petzschner in the first set by breaking him twice. Poor serving by Petzschner helped Seppi to claim the opening set. He hit five double faults and only 39% of the first serves to hand over the first set
6-3 to Seppi.
The second set was a thriller and went to full length as it was decided by a tie breaker. Petzschner improved his serve and hit eight aces to claim the set 7-6. He won 79% of the points on his first serve.
Petzschner improved the standard of his game in the final set and completely dominated to win it 6-2. He hit four aces compared to only one by his opponent and won 79% of the points on his first serve. Petzschner took 105 minutes
to defeat Seppi.
Petzschner will face either sixth seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia, or unseeded compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber in the next match.
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