Edouard Roger-Vasselin dumps Maxime Authom in the first round – Orange Open 2012 CH
Fourth seed, Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, toppled Maxime Authom of Belgium in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 in the first round at the Orange Open in Guadeloupe, France on Wednesday.
The Frenchman took advantage of his opponent’s horrible deliveries and completed the win in one hour and 42 minutes.
Roger-Vasselin and Authom swapped a break of serve in the first eight games of the opening set, evening out the score at 4-4. The Frenchman hit some fiery returns to take advantage in the ninth game and utilised it to win 6-4.
The world number 89, Roger-Vasselin, delivered two aces and the same number of double faults. Authom also smacked a couple of aces but his second serve was like an amateur player’s, as he committed six double faults and lost 13
of the 22 points on them. The Belgian failed to convert three of the four break chances he received and could not save two of the three threats he came across in the opener.
In the second set, Roger-Vasselin and Authom struggled to hold their serves, as seven of the 12 games were broken. The Frenchman, however, grabbed four of them to seal it 7-5.
Roger-Vasselin repeated his first set’s performance of two aces and the same number of double faults in the second. The Frenchman kept his first serve percentage at 55, winning 16 of the 24 points on them. He made the most of Authom’s
weak serves, winning seven of the 20 first and 14 of the 20 second return points. The Belgian also committed four double faults.
The Frenchman is drawn to meet qualifier, Daniel Evans of Great Britain, in the second round. Evans defeated former world number 10, Arnaud Clement of France, in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the opener.
Meanwhile, Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei was forced to retire from his opening round match due to injury. The second seed had lost the first set 6-7(8) against Brit, Alexander Ward, when he decided to withdraw from the match.
Ward, who entered the main draw as a lucky loser, will now take on David Goffin of Belgium in the second round.
Top seed, Olivier Rochus, had already qualified for the second round, after coming back from a deficit of one set to beat France’s Florent Serra 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-2 in the first round.
He will meet wild card entrant, Josselin Ouanna, in the next match.
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