Gilles Muller loses to Edouard Roger-Vasselin in quarterfinal – Open De Rennes 2011 CH
The biggest upset of day in the quarterfinal round of the Open De Rennes 2011, an ATP Challenger Tour event, came when top seeded Gilles Muller lost to lower ranked Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The two players battled it out on indoor hard courts in Rennes, France. After a few hours, talented Roger-Vasselin emerged victorious in straight sets of 7-5, 6-2 on Friday the 14th of October 2011.
Although, the players had contested against each other four times prior to this event, the last they met was at the US Open during the first round when Muller had won in straight three sets over his rival and equalized the head-to-head at 2-2.
Meeting for the fifth time the challengers were well aware of each other’s style and performance and opening the initial round of the match was Muller. Both the players had expertly handled their service games and the scoreboard had rotated to 1-1 after the first two games. During the following two games the players won on alternate serves and tied the score at 2-2.
Neither of the players wanted the other to take the lead and therefore, both kept the head-to-head tied at first 3-3 then 4-4 and eventually at 5-5 at the end of the tenth game by holding their serves. It was in the eleventh game that Muller came under pressure and erred, endorsing a pivotal breakpoint to his adversary. As Roger-Vasselin capitalized on the breakpoint, he then held his serve in the twelfth game and clogged the opening set with a 7-5 victory.
Muller was unable to break his opponent even once in the entire set and was now a set down in the match. On the contrary, Roger-Vasselin had not only capitalized on a breakpoint but also met his competition and was now one up in the match.
The second round of the match was commenced by Muller and both the rivals managed to bag a service game each in the first two games to rotate the scoreboard at 1-1. However, in the third game Muller double faulted on his second serve and endorsed a breakpoint to Vasselin, who then held his serve and took a mini lead of 3-1 by the end of the fourth game.
During the following two games the players again clogged a game each on their service games and even though, Muller reduced the deficit to 2-5, he was still unable to compete with his adversary. Roger-Vasselin was now a game away from victory and as he smashed a marvellous forehand down the line, he sealed his victory of the set and the match.
Next up for Roger-Vasselin is the fourth seeded Belgian Olivier Rochus in the semi-final of the event.
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