Henri Kontinen edges past Kenny De Schepper to reach 2nd round – Open Castilla y Leon 2011 CH
A surprising result was witnessed at Segovia, Spain, as the sixth seeded French, Kenny De Schepper, crashed out of the opening round of Open Castilla y Leon at the hands of the special exempt from Finland, Henri Kontinen, on Tuesday
afternoon.
The enthralling contest took two hours and four minutes to conclude, featuring high quality tennis action from the two contestants. Kontinen stun everyone with his accurate power hitting to dispose of the sixth seeded Schepper
from the competition, settling the final scores at 7-6(1), 6-7(1), 6-4, and made a spot in the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event.
The contest went on neck-to-neck all the way, with the Frenchman hanging in the matchup till the end but failing to come on the top. Only one serve break was registered in the whole matchup and it came from the racquet of Kontinen
in the third set, converting his sixth break chance of the day to seal victory. The French crafted just one break opportunity and squandered it away to finish on the losing side in the end.
A total of 34 aces were registered in the entire matchup, with Kontinen firing 21 and Schepper nailing 13 of them in the game. The sixth seeded French was consistent with committing unforced errors throughout the contest and his
seven expensive double faults wore him out in the game. Kontinen secured 58 out of 67 first serve points in the competition, while his opponent followed him by collecting 57 out of 74 to lose the matchup.
No serve breaks were seen in the opener, dragging the set into a tie breaker round, which was closed out by Kontinen at 7-6(1) after sheer dominance. The following set was a complete replication of the first one, except for Schepper
dominating the tie breaker round this time round to bag the second set at 7-6(1), levelling the matchup with one set a piece.
The French lost his momentum in the final set and crumbled under the immense pressure exerted by his aggressive opponent. Kontinen registered the first serve break of the day in the opening game of the third set and then held the
lead till the conclusion of the match at 6-4. His victory earns him a place in the second round of Open Castilla y Leon, where he will face the winner of the all-Spanish clash between Guillermo Alcaide and Roberto Bautista-Agut, for a place in the quarter-finals.
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