Fernando Verdasco downs Steve Darcis in the opener – French Open 2012
Seeded 14th in the draw, Fernando Verdasco of Spain made a good start, as he defeated Belgium’s Steve Darcis in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) in the first round at the French Open in Paris on Sunday.
Verdasco did not have a good start, getting broken in the opening game of the match and losing the next one to go down 0-2. However, the Spaniard raised the level of his game after that and looked like a completely different player,
winning six of the following seven games and capturing it 6-3.
The left-hander put in just 50 percent of the first serves but succeeded in claiming 10 of the 12 points on them. He banged in a couple of aces and committed three double faults. The 28-year-old went at net during two rallies and
won both of them. The Spaniard failed to save the only break point he faced but compensated that by converting two of the three he received in the opener.
Verdasco kept on winning, snatching first four games of the second set to move ahead 4-0. The world number 61, Darcis, avoided some embarrassment by winning two but that was all, as Verdasco closed it at 6-2.
The Spaniard had a poor first serve percentage of 41 but his conversion rate was even more amazing this time, as he grabbed all the seven points on them in the second set. His second serves were also near flawless, pocketing nine
of the 10 points. The Spaniard hit nine winners and made just six unforced errors. The 6ft 2in tall did not give any break chance to Darcis and availed two of the eight chances he created.
Unlike the first two sets, Verdasco and the Belgian made a steady start in the third one, holding their serve in the first six games to level the score at 3-3. The Spaniard claimed breakthrough in the seventh but it did not prove
decisive, as he could not serve out the match at 5-4 and evened it out at 5-5. It went into a tie-breaker, where Verdasco secured final three points to triumph 7-6(4).
The Spaniard drastically improved his first serve performance, putting in 80 percent of them and pounding four aces. His unforced errors increased to 14 but winners moved in the same direction to 16.
Verdasco will play Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the round of 64. The Luxembourger beat Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in the opening match.
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