Janko Tipsarevic beats Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the first round – Western & Southern Open 2011
World number 20 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia survived the second set scare to beat French qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin, ranked 113th in the world, in three sets 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(5) in the opening round at the Western
and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio on Tuesday. The Serbian needed two hours and 28 minutes to clinch a marathon match.
Tipsarevic crushed the French in the first set as he was almost flawless, breaking his opponent three times and winning six games in a row to claim the set 6-0.
The Serbian hit one ace and had a low first serve percentage, delivering just 42 percent of the first serves in the opening set. The right-handed, however, converted most of the serves into points, bagging seven of the eight first
service points and six of the eleven second service points. Tipsarevic made the difference with his aggressive returns of serve as he won a whopping seven of the fifteen first return points compared to only one out of eight by his opponent in the first set.
After losing the opening set miserably, Roger-Vasselin made a comeback, breaking the Serbian in the fourth game and winning his serve in the next game to build a 4-1 lead in the second set. The French maintained the lead as he
did not lose any of his service games throughout the set, serving it out at 5-3.
The Gennevilliers, France born delivered three aces and 69 percent of the first serves, capturing eighteen of the 24 points on them in the second set. In comparison, Tipsarevic served even better as he smashed four aces and claimed
eleven of the twelve first service points in the second set. The Serbian also won six of the 24 points on the first returns. Roger-Vasselin found difficulties in responding to his opponent’s powerful serve, sealing just one of the twelve first return points.
However, the French utilised one of the five break point opportunities he created on Tipsarevic’s serve in the second set.
Roger-Vasselin and Tipsarevic won their service games throughout the final set to tie the score at 6-6, taking it to a tie-break. The Serbian claimed an early mini-break to take a 4-1 lead but Roger-Vasselin bounced back to level
the points at 4-4. Tipsarevic captured three of the next four points after that, winning the tie-break 7-5.
The Serbian is slated to take on tenth seed Gilles Simon of France in the second round. The world number 12 defeated Jurgen Melzer of Austria in three sets 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5 in the first round.
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