Fernando Verdasco ousts Michael Llodra in opening round – China Open 2011
Spanish tennis pro Fernando Verdasco eased past Michael Llodra of France 6-2, 6-4 on Monday to book his place in the second round of 2011 China Open here at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing, China.
Verdasco looked in complete control in a match that lasted for only 1 hour and 11 minutes on the hard courts of Beijing. Breaking the serve at regular intervals, he put his opponent under extreme pressure. Not allowing Llodra any
room to play his shots, Verdasco dictated terms throughout the contest.
Hitting an impressive 86 per cent first serve, the Spaniard was able to take control of rallies right from the start. Placing his big forehand and backhand winners to perfection, he took the driving seat in the match. Serving brilliantly,
he did not allow a single break chance to Llodra to win 86 per cent of the points on his service games.
Llodra lacked the firepower in certain areas of the game. Hitting only 52 per cent of his first serve, he was always asking for trouble. Making double faults at crucial stage of the match, he looked a bit out of sorts. The Frenchman
managed to win only nine out of thirty one break points on his second serve, which of course played a big part in deciding the outcome of the clash.
Ranked 23 in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, Verdasco had a very difficult opponent in the opening round. But he justified his ATP ranking by crushing world number 33 Llodra. The 27-year-old Verdasco broke the
serve twice in the opening set to race to an impassable 5-2 lead. Holding on to his next service game comfortable, he took the set score lead 1-0.
A similar trend of play was observed in the following set as Verdasco looked to close out the match in straight sets. He held on to his serve games with ease and then he broke the serve to claim yet another straight sets victory.
Winner of 5 ATP titles, Verdasco will be looking to make it all the way to lift his sixth trophy on the tour.
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