Florent Serra crashes out by Lamine Ouahab in the qualifiers – Grand Prix Hassan II 2012
Qualifying seventh seed, Florent Serra, was dumped by Algerian challenger, Lamine Ouahab, in straight sets at the Grand Prix Hassan II 2012 on Sunday. He suffered a 7-6(3), 6-2 shock against the world number 752 in the second round of the qualifying competition
at Complexe Al Amal in Casablanca, Morocco.
The French veteran showed poor performance throughout the one and half hour venture and ultimately endured a straight set loss in their second meeting. Ouahab on the other hand not only advanced into the final round of the qualifying competition but also
avenged his loss in the qualifying competition of the BNP Paribas Masters three years ago.
The opening set saw a nervy performance by both contestants. Ouahab took the early lead and after breaking the French’s serve twice, he jumped to a 3-0 lead. However, the Algerian lost his concentration and subsequently levelled the scores at 5-5.
The set went to the tie-breaker where Serra was edged out by the Algerian and bear a 6-7(3) defeat.
Ranked 155th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Serra suffered the first blow in the opening game and fell at 0-2. Despite recovering in the third game, he lost his serve again to trail at 1-3. The French stayed in contention
to triumph as he recovered again in the fifth game. However, he stepped off gas after that and consequently suffered a 2-6 loss.
Overall, the 31-year-old produced a slightly lower first serve share of 56 per cent as compared to the Algerian’s 58 per cent and acceptably availed 24 out of 45 points on it. However, he fended off only eight out of 14 breakpoints he encountered and consequently
exited from the event with disappointment.
Ouahab on the other side of net will next confront Austrian competitor, Martin Fischer. The Austrian edged past qualifying top seed, Mikhail Kukushkin, in both sets tie-breaker. He manipulated a better first serve share of 57 per cent as compared to Kazakh’s
51 per cent and clicked 36 out of 50 points on it. Fischer also took full advantage of many unforced errors the Kazakh spilled and ended the match with 92 points.
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