Go Soeda sails past Yannick Mertens into second round – Loughborough Challenger 2011
2011 AEGON Loughborough Challenger entered the second round of the men’s singles competition on November 9, 2011. In the second round, Go Soeda (Japan) played his match against Yannick Mertens (Belgium). Soeda won the match 7-6(2),
6-2.
27-year old Soeda was playing with ease against the 24-year old Mertens as he kept a decent pace throughout the set. Soeda scored two aces in the first set and conceded no double faults.
Mertens did score an ace but he also conceded a double fault. The Japanese had a 74% first serve winning ratio as compared to Mertens’ 65%.
Both players had won equal number of points with their first serves with 88%. In the second serve, however, Mertens won 54% while Soeda won 78% points. Mertens was able to save the only breakpoint he faced while Soeda’s service
games did not give any room to Mertens to score a breakpoint.
The two players were going toe-to-toe in the first set which was seen as a surprise as Mertens, who in the ATP circuit has a win/loss ratio of 22/46 took the first set into the tiebreaker against Soeda who has a 165/94 win/loss
ratio in his ATP career. The Belgian could have won the first set but Soeda’s experience made him win the first set 7-6(2).
When the second set started, Mertens was looking for a win but either taking the set into another tiebreaker or taking a lead to win the set. Soeda scored four aces and did not concede any double fault.
Mertens could not score any ace but did concede a double fault once. Both players had an almost equal first serve winning ration as Mertens had a 65% winning ratio and Soeda secured 68%.
The Japanese kept on proving his dominance with service games as he won 85% points with his first serve and 83% points with his second serve. The Belgian, on the other hand, was able to win 67% points from his first serve but he
could only win 25% points on his second serve.
The Belgian was unable to save all of his breakpoints, which was a reason why he could not create a lead or reduce the game deficit he had against Soeda. Mertens, who has yet to make a Grand Slam debut, could only win two games
in the second set.
Soeda utilized his experience and used it against a naive player. Soeda did face resistance from Mertens in the first set, but in the second the Japanese had no trouble in winning the set 6-2.
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