Horacio Zeballos beats Ryan Harrison in the first round at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships
Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos had an easy victory over the world number 130 Ryan Harrison of America in the first round of the 2011 U.S Men’s Clay Court Championships at River Oaks Country Club on Tuesday. Ranked 94th in the world,
Zeballos took down his contender in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, taking just one hour and thirty six minutes of play to ensure his presence in the next round of the tournament.
The 25-year-old Zeballos presented brilliant tennis skills to expel the American player from the tournament. Even though Harrison’s serve percentage was not too different than his opponent’s, still Zeballos’s points winning efficiency
turned out to be the basic reason of his success in the contest. The Argentine player won 60 per cent service points in total while his opponent hanged back with a mere 54 per cent.
Harrison had an irresponsible opening to first set as he couldn’t find the momentum he needed to cope with Zeballos. He had static movements and his strokes were not finding their marks. More experienced Zeballos was really giving
a hard time to his opponent making him run every corner. Zeballos looked more physically and mentally nimble than Harrison and the difference of 4 years of tennis experience was very prominent.
Zeballos had already expected resistance from the two-handed backhand American player. He had assessed his opponent’s strengths and weakness before entering the field making it easier for the Argentine to confront his opponent.
Zeballos hit 2 aces, 75 percent first serves and won amazing 75 percent gain on them. Harrison on the other hand, started the set very sluggishly as he struck a single ace, double faulted once and won 50 percent of points on his 47 percent first serves. Harrison’s
worse performance led him down in the opening set while his Argentine opponent bagged 80 percent of break point opportunities to lead the first set with a 6-4 score line.
Concluding the first set with win, Zeballos looked very determined and focused in the second set, though he faced resistance from his lower ranked opponent. This time Harrison had a lot to offer, he fired in 4 aces and 46 percent
of first serves and gained 65 percent of points on them. In addition to this, he also bagged 50 percent of break points. The American was totally in form before the Argentine delivered last blow to his American opponent. Zeballos gained 70 percent service
points in total and 46 percent in return to lead the second set with a 6-3 score line.
Zeballos will face America’s John Isner who is a fourth seed at the tournament. This will be the second meeting between these two, given their first at the 2010 Rome Masters where Isner took the lead over Argentine in straight
sets.
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