Igor Kunitsyn battles past Kenny De Schepper into second round – Moselle Open 2011
World number 58, Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, had to go through some tough channels before he finally claimed victory against the wildcard entrant, Kenny De Schepper, in the opening round of the Moselle Open on Wednesday night.
Unseeded in the tournament, Kunitsyn toiled hard for two hours and twenty three minutes to settle the final scores at 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, to register a hard-fought victory. The Russian’s victory improved his winning record for the year
to 15-16 and booked him a place in the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
Being played on the indoor hard courts of the Arenes de Metz, in Metz, France, the contest displayed high quality tennis action, with both players throwing out their best at each other. Kunitsyn pocketed the opener after a stiff
contest but the French made a strong comeback in the next set to level the competition. The Russian kept his focus in the final set to come out as the winner, disposing of De Schepper from the tournament in front of his home crowd.
The Frenchman remained competitive throughout the contest and posed some serious resistance to his aggressive opponent. He banged in 13 cracking aces in the matchup but coughed seven expensive double faults in the game as well
to let some easy points to Kunitsyn. De Schepper reeled off 49 out of 67 first serve points in the matchup, with the Russian securing 47 out of his 64 points to win the contest.
Kunitsyn crafted a total of 14 break points in the entire matchup and converted just three of his chances en route to victory. De Schepper successfully cashed in two of his two break points but was outdone by the Russian in the
final set to finish on the losing side.
The Russian took the opening set with one timely serve break in the 12th game to but De Schepper made his way back in business in the following set by breaking him in the third game to lead 3-1. The French nailed his
second serve break of the day to take the set 7-5 but utterly failed to sustain his momentum in the final set. Kunitsyn’s third break point conversion sealed victory for him at 6-4, booking him a berth in the round of 16 of the Moselle Open.
Kunitsyn will play against the sixth seeded Belgian, Xavier Malisse, in the second round for a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Tags: