Alexandr Dolgopolov defeats Andreas Haider-Maurer; sails into third round – French Open 2011
World number 22, Alexander Dolgopolov of Ukraine, faced no real challenge in taking down the bleak Austrian, Andreas Haider-Maurer, in the second round clash at Roland Garros on Thursday. The fairly one-sided affair lasted for just 96 minutes before Dolgopolov uprooted his opponent in t straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the third round draws of the French Open.
It was already anticipated that Haider-Maurer will be an easy competitor for the in-form Ukrainian and it went pretty much according to expectations. The Austrian appeared never in control of the game and provided a number of easy opportunities to his competitor to remain on the losing end. Haider-Maurer was blown away by Dolgopolov in the opening set but hung in the next one for some time before he finally submitted the game in the third set.
The Ukrainian’s serve was not really up to the mark, as he reached just 57 percent precision in the contest but won 36 out of 47 first serve points to compensate for it. It was the first time Dolgopolov faced the Austrian in a singles match and felt no difficulty in disposing him off the Grand Slam tournament. The Ukrainian has been in an excellent form this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, as he made it to the quarter-final of the Australian Open earlier this year and has now won 20 matches till date.
Haider-Maurer conceded 30 unforced errors in the competition, which included seven costly double faults as well, bestowing easy points to Dolgopolov. The Ukrainian also spilled out 26 unforced errors but fired 30 winners in the game to take down the opponent.
Despite of an ordinary first serve precision of 57 percent, Dolgopolov was not broken a single time in the entire contest. Haider-Maurer had six opportunities to register a break point but the Austrian frittered away all of them to remain at a disadvantage. Dolgopolov successfully converted five of his eight break chances en route to victory, while he won a total of 93 points in the contest, as compared to the Austrian’s 68.
The Ukrainian raced through the opener but had to face some resistance from his opponent before clinching the second set. Dolgopolov sealed his straight sets victory by winning the third set 6-2, booking a date with the world number 15, Viktor Troicki of Serbia, in the third round of the Grand Slam tournament. Troicki was successful against Tobias Kamke of Germany in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4), in the second round clash.
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