Clement Reix outlasts Bumpei Sato in the second qualifier – OEC Kaohsiung 2012 CH
Seeded fifht in the qualifying draw, Clement Reix of France bounced back after getting stunned in the first set to topple Bumpei Sato of Japan 6-7(11), 6-2, 6-2 in the second round at the OEC Kaohsiung Challenger event in Taiwan
on Sunday.
The Frenchman needed two hours and 11 minutes to come out victorious from the contest.
Reix and Sato swapped two breaks of serve in the first 10 games of the opening set, squaring off the score at 5-5. The Frenchman and Sato held their serve in the next two, forcing a tie-breaker. Reix attained a 6-3 lead but the
Japanese came back to level it at 6-6. They went neck to neck to take the score at 11-11 but it was Sato who grabbed two successive points in the end to win it 7-6(11).
The Japanese won most of the points on his second replies, capturing 10 of the 21 points on them. On the other hand, Reix bombarded nine aces and committed three double faults in the first set. The French performed averagely in
all the other departments of the game, as he claimed a total of 29 of the 48 serve and 19 of the 53 return points.
Sato was looking to close the match quickly, as he made breakthrough in the opening game of the second set and won his next serve to attain a 2-0 lead. However, Reix showed splendid quality of tennis after that, as he did not lose
even a single game, clinching six in a row to seal it 6-2.
The Frenchman improved his game in all aspects which were lacking in the previous set, as he kept his first serve percentage at 83 and won 13 of the 19 points on them. The 28-year-old pressurised Sato with his offensive second
returns, bagging nine of the 12 points due to them.
Sato struck in the first game of the decider to take a 1-0 advantage but the Japanese managed to win only one more game after that, losing six of the next seven to go down 2-6.
Reix is drawn to meet fourth seed, Victor Baluda of Russia, in the final qualifier.
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