Arnaud Clement, Nicolas Mahut advance to the round of 32 – AEGON Championships 2011
Arnaud Clement beats Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-3
Former world number 10 Arnaud Clement of France ousted compatriot Benoit Paire, ranked 116th in the world, in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round of AEGON Championships at the Queen’s Club in London on Monday.
The match lasted for one hour and 21 minutes.
Clement drew the first blood as he broke Paire in the fifth game of the opening set and held his next service game to take a 4-2 lead. Serving for the set at 5-4, the French failed in holding his serve, levelling the score at 5-5.
The right-handed captured two successive games after that, winning the set 7-5. The 33-year-old hit three aces and 71 percent of the first serves, grabbing 82 percent of the points on them. Clement failed to save the only break point he faced but capitalised
on two of the five break point opportunities he created in the first set.
Carrying the winning momentum into the second set, the French played attacking game from the start. Clement broke Paire in the third game and consolidated on it, taking a 3-1 lead. Serving to stay in the set at 3-5, Paire could
not win his service game, losing the set 3-6. The 22-year-old did not convert the only break point he received on Clement’s serve and failed in saving both break points he faced on his own serve in the second set.
Clement is drawn to take on eighth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia in the round of 32.
Nicolas Mahut ousts Oliver Golding 6-3, 6-4
Another French Nicolas Mahut, ranked 103rd in the world, qualified for the second round as he defeated local wild card entrant Oliver Golding, ranked 982ndin the world, in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the round
of 64. The French took just an hour and ten minutes to beat his British opponent.
Mahut broke Golding once in the first set and consolidated on it to win the set 6-3. The French delivered four aces and kept his first serve percentage at 58 percent, claiming 79 percent of the points on them in the first set.
Golding faced trouble putting his second serves inside the court, committing a terrible four double faults in the first set. Mahut saved both break points he faced on his own serve and converted one of the three break points on Golding’s serve in the opening
set.
In the second set, Mahut and Golding held their serve in the first six games to tie the score at 3-3. The French broke Golding in the seventh game, consolidating on it and winning the set 6-4. The 29-year-old fired five aces and
93 percent of the first serves in the second set.
Mahut will meet Spanish Fernando Verdasco, seeded seventh at the event, in the second round.
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