David Goffin defeats Maxime Authom to advance into 2nd round – ATP ORBETTELO Challenger 2011
Belgian tennis-pro David Goffin thrashed out compatriot Maxime Authom 6-3, 6-4 on Monday to advance into the second round of 2011 ATP ORBETTELO Challenger Series in Orbetello, Italy. Un-seeded at the tournament, Goffin looked in
commanding form in his opening match as he required only 1 hour and 17 minutes dispatching his opponent.
Entering the tournament as a qualifier, Authom put up a great show in the qualification round a few day back. Upsetting top seeded Gerard Granollers in the final round of qualification tournament, the Belgian was expecting a much
better result here on the red clay courts of Italy but he couldn’t keep up with the intensity of the match and let his opponent clinch a straight sets victory.
Making a strong start to the match, Goffin broke his opponent in the very first game of the opening set. Not allowing Authom any room to play his shots, he dominated almost all areas of the game. Smashing a wonderful backhand winner
cross court, he took a crucial 5-3 lead in the set, serving for the set. Showing no signs of nerves, he pocketed the opening set with four straight points on his next service game.
The second set also followed a pretty similar pattern with both players putting in their best effort to break the serve first. Authom received his first real chance to break the serve in fourth game of the set. Converting a long
baseline rally in his favour, he took a vital 3-1 lead. Running high in confidence, Goffin showed remarkable fighting abilities and determination as he broke straight back to stay in the set.
Trailing 4-5, Authom had a tricky job to hold on to his next service game. But under pressure, he made a couple of costly double faults to let his opponent close out the match in straight sets. The 24-year-old looked in great touch
at the qualification tournament as well but he failed to continue his good run when it mattered the most. He will be hoping to learn from his mistakes and play solid tennis on his return to the ATP tour.
Ranked 210th in the ATP rankings, Goffin has been in decent form since the year 2011 has started. Although he has not played much tennis at the ATP level, his record in the ITF circuit has is quite impressive. His meagre
42 per cent first serve proved to be the main difference between the contestants as he managed to control the rallies. His defence was also rock solid as she saved four out of five break points against him, which of course played a big part in his victory.
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