Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeats Attila Balazs; reaches the 2nd round – ATP ORBETELLO Challenger 2011
Number six seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin made a sensational come back to crush Attila Balazs of Hungary 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to book his place in the second round of 2011 Orbetello Challengers tournament in Orbetello, Hungary.
Balazs made a strong start to the match as he timed his forehand and backhand winners to perfection. Breaking the Frenchman in sixth game of the opening set, he took a very crucial 4-2 lead. Roger-Vasselin put up a great fight
to break back and stay in the set but the Hungarian tennis-pro continued to play his natural game freely and held on to his service games without any problem to pocket the opener 6-3.
Looking to get back into the contest, Roger-Vasselin displayed some high quality tennis in the second set. Using his wonderful attacking abilities, he created all sorts of problems for his opponent. Playing exceptionally well from
the baseline, he converted several rallies in his favour to dent Balazs confidence levels. Breaking the serve twice, Roger-Vasselin raced to an impassable 5-1 lead in the set. Clinching four straight points on his next service game, the 27-year-old evened
the set score.
Continuing his exciting game play, Roger-Vasselin broke the serve at regular intervals in the final set as well. Hitting a blistering serve ace, he took a handsome 5-2 lead in the set. Breaking his opponent in the very next game,
he closed out a tight match that lasted for more than 2 hours and 1 minute on the clay courts of Orbetello.
Ranked 100th in the Association of Tennis Professional’s Rankings, Roger-Vasselin proved just why he is such a fierce competitor. Despite losing the first set in first half an hour of the match, the Frenchman kept his
focus on the game. He needed a special performance to clinch victory after he looked down and out at the end of the first set and he came up with one to surprise his opponent.
Firing seven serves aces in the match; Roger-Vasselin was able to get out of trouble with his very useful serving skills. Making the most of available opportunities, he secured more than 74 per cent of the points on his first serve.
He also took his chances on his second serves and the luck favoured him at most occasions. However his rock solid defence proved to be the main difference between the contestants at the end of the day as he saved four out of five
break points during the contest. He will be looking to continue his decent form in his upcoming matches at the tournament as well.
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