2011 French Open: Xavier Malisse, Florian Mayer win their first round matches
World number 40, Xavier Malisse of Belgium had a terrific start to the French Open, as he defeated the 74th ranked Russian, Dmitry Trusunov in the opening round clash on Tuesday. The Belgian took almost three hours before
he finally took down the resilient Russian in a five-setter 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, to make it to the second round of Roland Garros.
Malisse continued his brilliant run against Tursunov, defeating him for the fourth time in his career. The last time these two men faced each other was in London last year, when the Belgian stood victorious in straight sets 6-2,
7-6(3). Malisse registered his 13th victory of the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season and improved his all-time head-to-head record against Tursunov to 4-1.
It was an rnthralling game of tennis, with huge momentum swings observed on regularity. Malisse took the opening set after a stiff contest with the Russian, who bounced back very strongly to clinch the very next set to level the
competition at 1-1. Third set fell to the Belgian’s name while the fourth was bagged by Tursunov to bring the contest on even terms once more at 2-2. It all came down to the final set and after straining for two and a half hour, Malisse finally registered
victory by clinching the fifth set 6-1 in an assertive manner.
The Belgian will face the world number 20, Fernando Verdasco of Spain in the second round of the French Open. The Spaniard was successful against the Argentine, Juan Monaco in the first round of the competition.
World number 19, Florian Mayer of Germany also drew his first blood at Roland Garros, beating Igor Kunitsyn of Russia comprehensively in the opening round. He sealed the contest at 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, taking almost three hours
of play to confirm a spot in the second round of the Grand Slam tournament.
Mayer cracked in eight out of 15 break points in the contest to outplay the bleak Russian competitor, despite the fact that the German spilled out 46 unforced errors in the match. He converted eight break points out of 15 opportunities
and suffered five from his opponent en route to victory.
Kunitsyn clinched the second set after he dropped the opener but Mayer got the breakthrough in the following two sets to seal victory. He qualified for the second round draws and will take on the Colombian qualifier, Alejandro
Falla, who made it to the second round of the French Open after defeating Potito Starace of Italy in the opening round.
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