Gael Monfils beats Matthias Bachinger in the opening round match - Wimbledon Championships 2011
Ninth seed Frenchman, Gael Monfils kicked off his Wimbledon campaign by disposing off the 98th ranked Matthias Bachinger of Germany in the opening round on Monday.
The contest was held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, with Monfils domination prevailing most of the time. He took one hour and fifty minutes of play to settle the final scores at 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3, to end Bachinger’s voyage at the third Grand Slam tournament of the current year.
Apart from the hard-fought second set, Monfils faced no real challenge from the German opponent in the contest and concluded victory with ease. It was the first time the French faced Bachinger but he took very limited time to get his eye in the contest and took hold of the game early in the opener.
The brilliant serve of Monfils played the vital role in his victory, as he delivered 72 per cent of it on target, firing 14 cracking aces in the contest. The French reeled off 55 out of 71 first serve points and banged 42 winners, while his opponent followed him with 37 winners in the game.
Bachinger was beaten by sheer agility of his opponent, who traced the occasional drop shots from the German with outstanding efficiency. Monfils converted five of his 11 break opportunities, while suffering three serve breaks from the German opponent.
The opener took off with aggression from both contestants, who exchanged a number of assertive winners to keep ticking the score board ticking on even terms. Bachinger coughed seven unforced errors to assist Monfils strike his first serve break of the contest in the fourth game but the German retaliated with the same in the very next game to bring the scores to level terms once again. Monfils went on to strike his second serve break to seal the opening set at 6-4 and got one up in the contest.
Monfils slumped a bit in the next set, conceding a number of unforced errors to allow Bachinger bounce back in the game. Both men exchanged one serve breaks each to tie the scores at 6-6, enforcing a tie breaker round. Monfils gave no chance to his opponent in the tie breaker, wrapping up the second set at 7-6(3) and then sustained his winning momentum in the third set as well. The French will face the lucky loser from Slovenia, Grega Zemlja, in the second round of the tournament.
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