Arnaud Clement drowns Adam El Mihdawy in the second round – Challenger of Granby 2011 CH
French veteran, Arnaud Clement, moves in to the quarter-final draws of the National Bank’s Challenger of Granby by defeating Adam El Mihdawy of the United States in the second round on Thursday.
The contest was played on the hard courts of Granby, Canada, with the seventh seeded Clement wrapping up a convincing straight sets victory in one hour and ten minutes of play. The French concluded the matchup in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, to clear the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event.
Mihdawy hung in the game for quite some time before he eventually surrendered in the second set to let Clement away with victory. The American squandered a number of crucial opportunities in the matchup, which wore him out later, ending his voyage at the Challenger of Granby.
33-year-old Clement was very agile throughout the contest and traced most of the occasional drop shots from his opponent with precise anticipation, converting them into elegant cross-court winners. The French serve reached merely 56 per cent accuracy in the opening set but Clement reeled off 12 out of 14 first serve points to get the most out of his serve.
The opener took off with an early trade of serve breaks from both men to keep the scoreboard ticking on event terms till 3-3. A sudden momentum swing was seen thereafter, with Clement stinging his second serve break of the day to reach 5-3, serving for the set. A total of 46 points were played in the first set and the French secured 28 out of them, with Mihdawy lagging behind with 18 to drop the set. Clement got one up in the contest after bagging the opener at 6-3 and then carried on his winning impetus tin the following set as well.
The second set couldn’t bring any luck for Mihdawy, who continued to spray errant strokes all over the court to let his opponent come on top. Clement captured 13 out of 15 first serve points in the set and a single serve break proved sufficient for him to wrap up victory at 6-4, earning a place in the round of eight of the tournament.
Up next in the quarter-final draws for Clement is his third seeded fellow compatriot, Nicolas Mahut, for a place in the semis. Mahut defeated Joshua Milton of the Great Britain in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, in the second round of the tournament.
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