Eric Prodon blasts past Conor Niland into quarterfinal – Madrid Challenger 2011
Fourth seeded Eric Prodon of France thrashed out Irish tennis pro Conor Niland on Wednesday 7-6 (1), 6-0 to book his place in the quarterfinal of 2011 Madrid Challengers here in Madrid, Spain.
Prodon looked in stunning form in a match that lasted for only one hour and 29 minutes on the red clay courts of Madrid. Showing his aggressive intent right from the start of the match, he put the challenger under extreme pressure.
Hitting the ball really hard from the baseline, he placed his big forehand and backhand winners to perfection.
Ranked 92nd in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, Prodon took his time to settle in the match. Suffering three breaks of serve early on, he managed to clinch the opening set in a tie-breaker. However,
in the following set, he completely outclassed his opponent with some high quality tennis. Not allowing Niland to breathe, he completely an emphatic straight sets victory.
Niland will be certainly disappointed with his effort. After doing so well to force the opener into a tie-breaker, he lost his concentration and paid the ultimate price. Leading 5-3 with a break of serve, he looked on course to
take 1-0 set score lead. However, from that stage onwards, he started to make too many unforced errors.
Prodon made a very shaky start to the match as he had serve broken in the very first game of the opening set. Showing great fighting spirit and determination, he bounced back each time; he suffered a break of serve. After both
men inflicted heavy blows on each other, the set moved into a tie-breaker. In a fantastic display of tennis, Prodon claimed seven out of eight points in the tie-breaker to take 1-0 set score lead.
However, Prodon, completely dominated his opponent in the following set. Outplaying his rival in every aspect of the game, he established complete control over the contest. Holding on to his service games without any problem; he
dented his opponent’s confidence levels. Breaking the serve at regular intervals, he put himself in the driving seat. Not dropping a single game in the set, he completed an emphatic straight sets victory to move ahead at the Challengers tournament.
Serving with control and accuracy, he claimed 62 per cent of the points on his first serve. Saving seven out of eleven break points in the match, he had a rock solid defence. He will be hoping to continue his impressive form in
the quarterfinal match-up as well.
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