Jarkko Nieminen conquers Julien Benneteau in the title match at Sydney – Tennis Special
Finn qualifier, Jarkko Nieminen, trashed French rival, Julien Benneteau, in straight sets at the Apia Sydney International 2012 on Sunday. He registered a 6-2, 7-5 victory over the French to clinch his second career title at this ATP (Association of Tennis
Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place on the hard courts in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
World number 49, Nieminen became the first qualifier to grab the title after Sergiy Stakhovsky clinched the title at the St. Petersburg in 2009. He outclassed the French in an all 30-over final and not only lifted his second career title but also extended
his lead in the head-to-head series by 5-0 against Benneteau.
The Finn veteran nervously entered the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in Homebush and gifted away his serve in the opening game. However, he later re-focused and broke Benneteau’s serve thrice to clinch the opener with a 6-2 score line. He failed to fend
off the only breakpoint he encountered but capitalised on three out of four break chances. Nieminen formulated a lower first serve share but clicked spectacular 10 out of 12 points on it.
The Masku native, Nieminen, kept momentum rolling into the following set and smoothly plucked entire serves without facing any breakpoint. Later he converted one out of two break opportunities to his advantage in the end to seal the deal by winning seven
games to five. The Finn clobbered a better first serve share of 89 percent as compared to Benneteau’s 68 percent and registered an impressive 22 out of 31 points on it.
Summing up the Finn’s performance, he took full advantage of the several unforced errors and three double faults the French spilled. Nieminen also fired four aces and finished the match with 63 points.
"I tried to focus and win every point I could. I think I managed to do that pretty well," said Finn of the final. "I don't have a good record in finals, but I don't think I've done anything wrong in the ones I've played. Today I felt I had a really good
chance to take the title as I had the game to do it. It's been many years since that first title and I had many finals after that, but I'm pretty good at believing in myself."
A former world number 13, Nieminen had a monotonous 2011 season. He was ousted from the opening rounds of all four Grand Slams including the Australian Open. Adding further to his misery, the Finn started the season standing at world number 39 but ended
at a disappointing rank at 77 in the ATP rankings. He made a semi-final berth at the Le Gosier Challenger (fell to Stephane Robert) and reached the third round at the Rome Masters 1000 event (lost to seventh seed Tomas Berdych) in the first half of the season.
However, the Finn lifted his game in late September and made a quarter-final showing at the Bangkok ATP (lost to second seed Gael Monfils). Nieminen then cruised towards the title-round at the If Stockholm Open in October (lost to French number two, Monfils)
and confidently entered the 2012 season.
The high spirited Finn is eying to re-kindle his 2006 spark this year and after earning this title, he is geared up for the first Grand Slam of the season, Australian Open. Nieminen will square off against the Argentinean competitor, David Nalbandian, in
the opening round and he simply needs to play his game in order to reach far at the Melbourne Park.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: