2011 French Open: Simone Bolelli strains pass Frank Dancevic in the opening round
Lucky loser from Italy, Simone Bolelli, continued to ride his luck at the French Open, as he defeated the Canadian qualifier, Frank Dancevic, in his encounter on Monday afternoon. The Italian wrapped up victory in two hours and
twenty seven minutes of play, settling the final scores at 6-1, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2, to book a berth in the second round of Roland Garros.
Being played at Paris, France, the contest displayed Italian domination throughout. Bolelli was very aggressive in his approach and had a blistering start to the contest, clinching the opening two sets after losing just four games
in total. It looked as if the Italian was heading for a comprehensive straight sets victory but an amazing comeback was seen from the Canadian in the third set. Dancevic posed some serious resistance to his opponent and the dragged the set into a tie breaker
round, which he finally won after a stiff contest. His joy didn’t last for long as Bolelli wound up the contest by winning the fourth set and advanced to the second stage of the draws.
The two men have already faced twice prior to their encounter at Roland Garros, with both competitors winning one game apiece. The last time they met was at London, where Bolelli was declared the winner, as Dancevic got injured
in the fifth game of the opening set, forfeiting the contest in the Italian’s favour. He now leads the head-to-head series by 2-1, after registering his first victory of the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season.
Bolelli’s big serve played the greatest part in his success in the game, as he delivered with 75 per cent precision and secures 80 out of 102 total serve points in contest. The Italian crafted 13 opportunities to break the opponent’s
serve and cashed in six of the chances en route to victory. Bewildered Dancevic had four break chances but he squandered away all of the opportunities to remain at a disadvantage.
The Canadian appeared totally out of form in the first two sets, losing them 1-6, 3-6 respectively, but came up to the expectations in the third one to take down Bolelli. Dancevic clinched the third set tie breaker at 7-6(5) but
slumped once again in the next set to lose the match. Bolelli stung two serve breaks to seal the fourth set and accomplished victory at 6-2, getting through to the second round of the French Open. He will either face world number four Andy Murray or the French
qualifier, Eric Prodon in the second round at Paris.
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