Florent Serra triumphs over Gianluca Naso in opening round - BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2011
Tuesday, 20th September, continued with the opening round matches of the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2011, Bucharest, Romania. Florent Serra, Frenchman, went on thrashing the lower ranked Italian, Gianluca Naso, in straight
sets, 6-2, 6-4, in just over an hour.
Aged 24, the Italian was predicted a win, however, his overconfidence led him to a staggering loss. Ranked world No.259, the left-hander stood up against the former world No.36, Serra, for the second time but was pushed down yet
again. Most of his previous fixtures have ended up in a loss. Nevertheless, the current world No.146 had a greater offense technique to conquer the classic red clay and move into the 2nd round of the ATP Tour 250.
Firing up the starter, the Frenchman served first to open up in the first set. Rolling down the scoreboard at first, Serra succeeded in captivating an early breakpoint of the Italian’s serve and serving out the next game to lead
the first set 3-0.
Finally, with his first game win in the set, Naso discovered that the scoreboard can be rolled down if played sensibly. Nevertheless, the left-hander could not prove magical in any sense. Maintaining a good 3 games lead till the
decider game, Serra eventually pulled off the set, breaking the Italian in the last game, with a 6-3 win and moved on to set 2.
With a one set lead in the match, Serra served first once again and charged in stronger. Levelling up next, Naso sauntered the following game and handed back the serve. The set moved on as both played rallied and won on their respective
serves till the 10 game of the match.
Though ended in a short time, the Frenchman ended the set splendidly. Breaking the Italian with a marvellous down-the-line shot forces the Italian to return back which came back as a volley. With a perfect top spin return Naso
ended the set with a 6-4 win and the match 2-0.
Comparatively, though the Frenchman made the spectators applaud his play, his stats added to his marvellous win. With a 73 percent accuracy of his first serve, the 30-year-old won 82 percent of points on it. And with 40 service
points and 22 returners, the Frenchman declared a win totalling 62 points against 43 of the 24-year-old.
Serra, although happy for his win, goes straight into the hands of the top seed and the world No.23, Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina for their 2nd round match here.
Tags: