Andrey Kuznetsov moves to the third round qualifier of the Grand Prix Hassan II
World number 244 Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia upset French Vincent Millot, ranked 155th in the world, in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the qualifying draw at the Grand Prix Hassan II at Casablanca on Sunday. It took the Russian one hour and 16 minutes to beat his opponent.
Vincent broke Kuznetsov in the second game to take a 2-0 lead in the opening set. However, the Russian broke back immediately and held his serve in the next game to level the score at 2-2. Kuznetsov broke his opponent again in the ninth game, taking a 5-4 lead. The Russian successfully held his serve in the tenth game to win the first set 6-4.
Kuznetsov hit a couple of aces and 45 per cent of the first serves in the opening set. The Russian won 69 per cent of the points on his first serve. On the other hand, Millot served pretty badly as he did not hit any ace and committed five double faults. The French delivered just 41 per cent of the first serves, winning 76 per cent of the points on them.
The Russian did not face much resistance in the second set, breaking his opponent in the fifth and seventh game to win the set 6-2.
Kuznetsov fired in 2 aces and committed the same number of double faults in the second set. He kept his first serve percentage at 48 per cent and converted 58 per cent of his first serves into points. The Russian capitalized on one of the three break points he received in the second set. Kuznetsov managed to save both break points he faced in the second set.
The Russian took revenge from Millot as the French defeated Kuznetsov in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the qualifying draw at the Australian Open this year.
Kuznetsov has featured mostly in Future and Challenger level tournaments this year. After Australian Open, the Russian played in a Future tournament in Spain, losing to Jordi Samper-Montana in three sets 6-1, 1-6, 5-7 in the round of 16. The 20-year-old was defeated by Spanish Guillermo Olaso 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-7(7) in the second round of the Meknes Challenger. Kuznetsov’s best performance came at the Casablanca Challenger, where he lost to Franco Skugor of Croatia in the quarter-final.
In the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II, Kuznetsov crushed Moroccan wild card entrant Yassine Idmbarek, ranked 808th in the world, 6-1, 6-0 in a one-sided contest.
The Russian will face either world number 511 Daniel Smethurst of Great Britain or world number 144 Conor Niland of Ireland in the third round.
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