Blake Strode slays Clayton Almeida in the qualifying competition – SAP Open 2012
Local star, Blake Strode, destroyed the Brazilian rising star, Clayton Almeida, with a bagel at the SAP Open 2012 on Sunday. He manifested a 6-4, 6-0 victory over the 31-year-old to book a spot in the final round of the qualifying competition at this hard
court event held in San Jose, United States.
Strode crushed the world number 1249, Almeida, in almost an hour at the HP Pavilion. Battling each other for the first time, the American displayed exceptional defensive skills and broke Almeida’s serve four times to earn the spotlight.
The Saint Louis native stormed into the opening set and quickly jumped to a 2-0 lead with a break of serve. He then fired massive forehands down the line to pocket entire serves, eventually clinching the opener with a 6-4 score line. Strode warded off both
breakpoints he faced and converted one out of seven break opportunities to his advantage.
Ranked 393rd in the South African Airways ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Rankings, Strode went berserk in the following set. He cruised to bag all six games in a row, subsequently earning a bagel in less than half an hour.
The American was never challenged with any breakpoint and cashed in all three break chances to register this exceptional score line.
Summing up the higher ranked performance, Strode took full advantage of the several unforced errors and double faults Almeida committed. He also formulated a higher first serve share of 60 percent as opposed to the Brazilian’s 57 percent and superbly clicked
23 out of 27 points on it. The American then ended the match with 68 points and assertively advanced into the proceeding round.
Strode will next face his fourth seeded compatriot, Denis Kudla, who dumped Phillip Simmonds in an all-American battle to set-up this duel. The fourth seed saved half of the four breakpoints he faced and capitalised on all four break opportunities to clobber
a 7-5, 6-3 score line.
The second seed, Richard Berankis, will join Strode for a shot in the main draw of this ATP World Tour 250 series event. The Lithuanian lost his track in the second set but broke Kim’s serve three times in the final set to overpower the American contestant,
Kevin Kim. He also hammered 13 aces and converted five out of 12 break chances to earn the glory.
Berankis will next face the eighth seed, Tim Smyczek, who crushed his opponent, Australia’s Carsten Ball, with a breadstick to book this place.
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