Feliciano Lopez, Sam Querrey advance to the second round – AEGON Championships 2011
Feliciano Lopez defeats Dmitry Tursunov 7-6(4), 6-3
Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, ranked 41st in the world, overcame world number 70 Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-3 in the first round of AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club in London on Monday. The Spaniard took an hour and 30 minutes to oust his opponent.
Lopez and Tursunov exchanged a single break of serve in the first set, squaring off the score at 6-6 and forcing a tie-break. The Spaniard bagged a single mini-break in the tie-break and clinched it 7-4. The left-handed served brilliantly as he delivered eleven aces and 79 percent of the first serves, sealing 73 percent of the points on them. Lopez converted one of the four break points he received on Tursunov’s serve and saved four of the five break points on his own serve in the first set.
The Spaniard carried the winning momentum into the second set and broke Tursunov in the sixth game, racing to a 5-2 lead. The 29-year-old served out the set in the ninth game, claiming it 6-3. The Madrid resident continued to smack Tursunov with the serve as he delivered seven aces and won 94 percent of the first service points in the second set.
Lopez will take on world number 10, third seed Andy Roddick of USA in the second round.
Sam Querrey beats Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-4
World number 26 and defending champion Sam Querrey of USA knocked out world number 60 Kei Nishikori of Japan in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to qualify for the second round. The match lasted for an hour and sixteen minutes.
The American broke Nishikori in the fourth game and held his serve in the next game, blazing forward to a 4-1 lead. Querrey capitalised on the single break of serve, winning the set 6-3. The right-handed hit five aces and 66 percent of the first deliveries, clinching 80 percent of the points on them in the first set. The American converted the only break point he received on Nishikori’s serve and succeeded in saving all the seven break points on his own serve in the opening set.
In a similar fashion to the first set, Querrey needed only a single break of serve to bag the second set 6-4. The 23-year-old’s racket kept firing aces as he delivered five of them in the second set. The six feet and six inches tall hit 67 percent of the first serves, converting an amazing 94 percent of them into points in the second set.
Reflecting on his performance after the match, Querrey said, “I thought I served really well and moved well. I was pretty happy for my first grass court match of the season.”
The thirteenth seed will meet Rainer Schuettler of Germany in the round of 32.
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