Benjamin Becker ousts Stephane Robert from the second round of the Status Athens Open
World number 68 Benjamin Becker of Germany outplayed his French opponent in the second round clash at the Status Athens Open at Athens, Greece on Thursday. The top seed German laboured for one hour and twenty nine minutes before
he wound up his three-set victory 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, to move on to the quarter-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event.
The enthralling contest exhibited a great game of professional tennis, with the two players straining hard to get the better of the other. The top seed had a magnificent start to the game and reeled off the opening set with ease
but a terrific comeback from the Frenchman brought thrill in the game, as he won the second set to level the competition 1-1. Becker proved too good for Robert in the final set and secured victory comprehensively to dispense the Frenchman out of the tournament.
Both the competitors had an ordinary first serve accuracy of around 50 per cent and collected almost the similar percentage of points on it. Becker got the better of his opponent by having a tight check over his unforced errors,
an inability which wore Robert out in the contest.
The Frenchman spilled eight costly double faults in the game while he suffered seven aces from Becker. The German crafted thirteen opportunities to break Robert’s serve and converted six chances out of those, while he dropped his
served three times in the contest.
The 29-year-old German had a blistering start to the opener, breaking in the very first game to lead 2-0. Becker reeled off 13 out of 16 first serve points in and successfully defended the only break point he faced in the in the
first set. Two consecutive double faults from Robert bestowed the second break point in the eighth game, leaving Becker serve for the set at 5-3. The opening set fell in the German’s bag at 6-3 as he got the upper hand in the matchup.
A dramatic turnaround was seen in the following set as Robert bounced back right in the game to snatch the game away from the German. The French secured 13 out of 15 first serve points and broke Becker twice before closing the
second set at 6-4 and level the competition to 1-1.
Becker turned the tide in the final set and totally blew away his opponent with his power hitting. He stung three serve breaks and bagged 25 out of 36 total points being played in the third set to conclude victory at 6-1. The German
will now square off against the seventh seed Swiss, Stephane Bohli, who defeated Igor Sijsling in the second round to make it to the quarter-finals of the Status Athens Open.
Tags: