Arnaud Clement stuns Michael Llodra in opening round – Moselle Open 2011
Sheer surprise for the tennis fans at the Arenes de Metz, Metz, France, as the world number 34, Michael Llodra crashed out from the opening round of the Moselle Open at the hands of his fellow compatriot, Arnaud Clement on Wednesday
night.
Fifth seeded Llodra was stunned by a magnificent game play of the French wildcard, who wrapped up an emphatic victory in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, to earn a place in the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour 250 event.
The all-French affair was completely dominated by brilliant power hitting of Clement and Llodra had to succumb against the fury of his fellow compatriot. Clement face limited resistance from the fifth seeded opponent and raced
through the game with the utmost ease to come out as the winner.
Llodra strained for one hour and twenty minutes before he eventually crumbled under the immense pressure put on by the French wildcard entrant. Clement had a below par serve accuracy of merely 47 per cent and reeled off 20 out
of 29 first serve points in the game, with Llodra bettering him by securing 28 out of 41 points on his 73 per cent serve in the matchup to finish on the losing side.
Clement crafted six break opportunities in the contest and converted half of them en route to victory. The fifth seed French cashed in just one out of his four break chances in the match to let his opponent fly away with victory.
Llodra suffered the first jolt of the contest in his very first serve game, when Clement broke him to lead 3-0 early in the opener. The French wildcard kept with his aggressive approach to keep winning points on regularity and
successfully defended the one break point he faced from his rival in the set. Clement wrapped up the opening set at 6-3 to get the upper hand in the contest and carried on his winning momentum in the following set as well.
The fifth seed French registered his first serve break of the day in the fourth game of the next set, only to be broken in the very next game. Clement nailed another crucial break point in the seventh game to conclude his surprise
victory at 6-4, moving into the second round of the Moselle Open.
Clement will take on the other French competitor, Nicolas Mahut, in the second round for a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
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