Eduardo Schwank thrashes Ivo Karlovic in the opener – French Open 2012
Argentinean contender, Eduardo Schwank, earned a surprising win, as he toppled world number 59, Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, in straight sets 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 in the first round of the French Open in Paris on Tuesday.
Schwank and Karlovic did not allow each other to break serve in the first nine games to take the score to 5-4 in the former’s favour. Serving to stay in the set at that moment, Karlovic tumbled under pressure, losing a couple of
game points and dropping it 4-6.
The 192nd ranked, Schwank, banged in a single ace and did not make any double fault. He kept his first serve percentage at 81 and converted 17 of the 22 of them into points. The Argentinean did quite well on ground strokes,
as he hit eight winners and committed just three unforced errors in the opener.
Schwank took his game to the next level in the second set, as he started to play almost flawlessly. The Argentinean did not lose even a single game, breaking Karlovic three times and snatching six consecutively to finish it 6-0.
The Rosario, Argentina resident continued to get easy points on his first serves, as he put in 73 percent of them and won nine of the 11. On the other hand, Karlovic was completely off colour, hitting merely 47 percent of the first
deliveries and claiming just three of the eight points on them. The Croatian, who is famous for his powerful serve, gave an embarrassing performance on the second ones, committing three double faults and losing eight of the nine points.
Schwank carried on with his winning spree, as he grabbed opening three games of the final set to move ahead 3-0. After losing 11 in a row, Karlovic succeeded in holding his serve and reducing the trail to 1-3. However, the Croatian
managed to claim just a couple of more games and went down 3-6.
Karlovic improved a bit, as he banged in four aces and clinched 13 of the 18 points on first serves. However, his second deliveries let him down once again, as he dropped seven of the nine points on them. The Croatian could not
create any break opportunity on Schwank’s serve and failed to save one of the three threats he came across on his own in the decider.
Schwank will face Florian Mayer of Germany in the second round. Mayer outlasted Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straight sets in the opener.
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