Alexander Ward upsets the injury-stricken Yen-Hsun Lu in round one – Orange Open Guadeloupe 2012 CH
Lucky loser, Alexander Ward, overcame the second seed, Yen-Hsun Lu, at the Orange Open Guadeloupe 2012 on Wednesday. He was leading 7-6(8) before the Taiwanese got injured and was forced to retire from this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place in Le Gosier, Guadeloupe.
The British rising star showed tremendous skills to outclass the world number 59 in the opening set’s tie-breaker. However, Lu felt severe pain after that and was forced to pull out from this hard court event in the opening round.
Ranked 341st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Ward confidently entered the Stade Lambert Lamby and held his opening serve. He then maintained consistency in his game and swiped in remaining serves after saving both breakpoints he encountered. The Brit, however, failed to find any break chance and consequently enforced a tie-breaker. Ward outshined his seeded opponent in it and clinched the set with a 7-6(8) score line.
Up next for the Brit is the Belgian contender, David Goffin, who brushed off early resilience posed by United States’ Michael Russell to set-up this duel. The 21-year-old committed nine double faults but fired 11 aces to cover it up. Goffin superbly dusted away six out of seven breakpoints he came across and cashed in two out of five break opportunities, ultimately clobbering a 7-6(5), 6-3 score line in one hour and 56 minutes.
The eighth seed, Benoit Paire also earned the glory later that day. He crushed the Ukrainian contender, Sergei Bubka, with double breadsticks in 39 minutes to progress.
The world number 96 smoothly slid entire serves without facing any blockage in the opening set. He converted two out of four break chances to his advantage, eventually joggling up an assuring 6-1 score line.
Paire, who is just 22-year-old, maintained his intensity in the following set and swiftly plucked entire serves without facing any breakpoint. He capitalised on three out of four break opportunities to bag the second breadstick in almost 20 minutes.
The French seed will next confront the Japanese contestant, Yuichi Sugita, who trashed Arnau Brugues-Davi with a breadstick to advance.
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