Edouard Roger-Vasselin dismisses Andrey Kuznetsov at first round of Barcelona
French tennis player and Barcelona qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Russian tennis pro Andrey Kuznetsov in straight sets at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, undoing his opponent swiftly in the first round of the ATP World Tour 500 Series event. The tournament is part of the clay swing before the French Open kicks off in May, and Roger-Vasselin could not qualify for the event as a main draw participant. He fought through qualifying rounds to face wild card Andrey Kuznetsov in his opening round at the tournament. Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated his opponent 6-2, 6-4, taking just a little over one hour and fifteen minutes to win the match.
The match was not a particularly interesting one, as Roger-Vasselin is ranked much higher than his opponent at World Number 144 and was expected to win the encounter. In the first set, neither of the players scored any aces and Kuznetsov helped Roger-Vasselin’s cause by committing one double fault. Roger-Vasselin was not broken even once, although he managed to convert two of five break points successfully. The first set ended when Roger-Vasselin took 63 per cent of the 49 points played to win it 6-2.
The second set was more or less a repeat of the first one, although Roger-Vasselin managed to score one ace. Kuznetsov committed one more double fault, and managed to drive Roger-Vasselin to two break point opportunities. The Russian World Number 209 also managed to convert one of these chances, although Roger-Vasselin quickly took revenge on the player by breaking him twice. The French tennis pro had more trouble with this set later on, as Kuznetsov struggled to catch up to Roger-Vasselin and succeeded in taking four games in the set. However, this was not enough to force the match into a third round and Roger-Vasselin won 52 per cent of the total points in the set to win the match with a 6-2, 6-4 score-line.
Edouard Roger-Vasselin will compete against either Russian pro Nikolay Davydenko or tenth seeded Ukrainian player Alexander Dolgopolov in the second round of the Barcelona Open.
Tags: