Jarkko Nieminen prevails over Victor Hanescu in the first round – Suisse Open Gstaad 2011
World number 53 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland overpowered Romanian Victor Hanescu, ranked 63rd in the world, in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 in the opening round of Credit Agricole Suisse Open at the Credit Agricole Arena in
Gstaad, Switzerland on Tuesday. It took the Finn an hour and twelve minutes to undo his opponent.
Nieminen faced tough competition in the first set. The Finn took the lead when he broke Hanescu in the fourth game and went ahead 3-1. Hanescu broke back in the very next game and held his serve in the sixth game to tie the score
at 3-3. The Romanian and Nieminen held their serve in the next seven games to take the score to 6-5 in favour of the latter. The Finn managed to break Hanescu’s serve in the twelfth game to claim the set 7-5.
The former world number 13 hit 55 percent of the first serves and a single ace in the opening set. Nieminen had an average service conversion rate as he converted 76 percent of the first serves and 47 percent of the second serves
into points in the first set. On the other hand, Hanescu fired 67 percent of the first serves and seven aces. However, the Romanian could not convert most of his serves into points as he won just 69 percent of the first service points and a meagre 36 percent
of the second service points. Hanescu won five of the 21 first return points compared to 31 percent by his opponent in the opening set.
Carrying the winning momentum into the second set, Nieminen cruised past his opponent. The Masku, Finland resident took an early lead, breaking Hanescu in the second game and holding his serve in the next game to blaze forward
to a 3-0 lead. The 30-year-old broke the Romanian again at 5-2 and captured the set 6-2.
Nieminen hit one ace and kept his first serve percentage at 64 percent, converting the same percentage of first serves into points in the second set. The Finn had a formidable second serve performance as he won an amazing seven
of the eight second service points in the second set. On the other hand, Hanescu could win only one of the eight points on the second serve. Both players won five of the fourteen first return points in the second set.
Nieminen is slated to play Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, seeded first at the tournament, in the round of 16.
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