Bernard Tomic, Xavier Malisse through to the second round - Open de Nice Côte d’Azur 2012
Bernard Tomic beats Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-3
Fifth seed Australian, Bernard Tomic, made a good start to the event, as he breezed past Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko, ranked 63rd in the world, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in the first round at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur
in France on Tuesday.
The Aussie required only an hour and five minutes to undo his opponent in an easy match.
Tomic began the encounter in the best possible manner for himself, as he clinched opening three games of the first set to gain a 3-0 advantage. The Australian claimed his second breakthrough in the eighth, winning it 6-2.
Lacko responded strongly in the second set, striking in the third game and consolidating on it to move ahead 3-1. However, the Slovakian was unable to win even a single one after that, getting broken twice and dropping five games
in a row to lose it 3-6.
Both players banged in a total of three aces in the match but Tomic also committed one double fault compared to none by the Slovakian. Lacko could not convert one of the two break points he received and failed to save four of the
six he faced.
Tomic is drawn to take on Kazakh contender, Mikhail Kukushkin, in the second round. Kukushkin beat American qualifier, Sam Querrey, in the opening match.
Xavier Malisse defeats Yen-Hsun Lu 7-5, 6-4
Former top-20 player, Xavier Malisse, showed some of his previous class, surprising world number 59, Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round. Malisse, who is currently ranked 80th,
took an hour and 52 minutes to down the Taiwanese.
The Belgian and Lu made a steady start to the match, as they did not lose their serve in the first 10 games of the opener, taking the score to 5-5. Malisse hit a blow to the Taiwanese in the 11th and served it out at
6-5.
The 31-year-old, Malisse, broke Lu in the very first game of the second set and held his following serve to attain a 2-0 lead. The Belgian maintained the advantage throughout and sealed it 6-4.
The Florida, USA resident bombarded seven aces on Lu and captured 38 of the 49 points on the first serves in the match. The right-hander put away the only break threat he came across and utilised two of the seven opportunities
he created.
Malisse will lock horns with top seed, John Isner of USA, in the second round.
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