Gael Monfils ousts Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the opening round – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
France’s Gael Monfils, seeded 13 at the event, made short world of Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia in the first round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy on Monday. The Frenchman allowed Bogomolov to win just five games
in the entire match, outclassing him 6-4, 6-1 in just an hour and 19 minutes.
Monfils and Bogomolov started by winning their serve in the opening two games of the first set to level the score at 1-1. The Frenchman struck in the third to move ahead 2-1 but Bogomolov broke back immediately to even it out at
2-2. The American then served a 21-point game, in which he succeeded in saving seven break threats but could not do the same on the eighth to go down 2-3. Monfils consolidated on the advantage and took a 4-2 lead. The Frenchman let away the opportunity and
closed the opening set 6-4.
Ranked 14th in the world, Monfils had a stunning first serve percentage of 90, claiming 18 of the 27 points on them. In comparison, Bogomolov did not serve well, as he committed a couple of double faults and put in 69
percent of the first deliveries, converting 19 of the 29 of them into points. The Russian failed to save two of the 10 break points he faced and could not convert one of the two he received in the opener.
Just like the first set, Monfils and Bogomolov held their serve in the first two games to equalise the score at 1-1. However, the Frenchman did not lose even a single one afterwards, snatching three breaks of serve and grabbing
five in a row to seal it 6-1.
Monfils pounded four aces and 63 percent of the first serves in the second set. The French star had an incredible conversion rate, snatching eight of the 10 first and four of the six second delivery points. He was also impressive
on the returns, as he captured 10 of the 19 points on the first and seven of the 11 on the second replies. Monfils did not give Bogomolov any chance to break and capitalised on three of the four of his own.
The Frenchman is slated to meet former world number one, Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, in the second round. Ferrero beat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, ranked 35th in the world, in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 in the opening
match.
Tags: