Andreas Seppi takes down Olivier Rochus to reach the second round – BNP Paribas Open 2012
World number 46, Andreas Seppi of Italy, has to go through some tough channels before registering an emphatic victory against the Belgian veteran, Olivier Rochus, in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday. Both unseeded
competitors fought extremely hard for two hours and five minutes before Seppi finally came out as the winner at 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to carry his voyage at the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, California, the United States.
It was Seppi’s fourth straight victory over the 31-year-old Rochus, giving him a 4-0 lead in their all-time head-to-head series. The Italian was off to a poor start in the contest, dropping the opening set early to fall on his
back foot. However, a tremendous recovery on part of Seppi stunned everyone, as the 28-year-old rallied through the next four sets to deny Rochus from victory. He fought extremely well to take hold of the momentum and once getting into his winning groove,
Seppi never looked back at his opponent.
The most eminent feature of the match was Seppi’s exceptional serve game. The unseeded Italian fired 17 thudding aces and clinched 43 out of 50 first serve points to root out Rochus from the tournament in style. He used his first
serve as the primary weapon of destruction and the Belgian opponent fell to its victim with ease.
Rochus was off to an ideal start in the opening set, registering a serve break in the very first game of the match to have early psychological advantage over the Italian. He sustained his lead throughout the opening set and secured
it at 6-4 to get one up in the contest. Seppi came back firing at him in the following set; this time the Italian broke first to lead 3-0 in the set. He kept winning crucial points throughout the contest and went on to reel off the last two sets of the match
to be declared victorious.
Seppi will play against the world number eight and the home favourite, Mardy Fish, in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday. Fish is seeded at number eight in the tournament and hence, he received a bye to the second
round.
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