Jarkko Nieminen undoes Maximo Gonzalez; breezes into the second round – UNICEF Open 2011
Fifth seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen barely sweated in the final set to slay Argentinean Maximo Gonzalez with a breadstick at UNICEF Open 2011, an ATP World Tour 250 series grass court event held in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. He
registered a 7-5, 6-1 victory over the world number 76, Gonzalez to book a second round spot on Tuesday.
29-year-old Nieminen took just seventy minutes to earn a straight set victory against Argentinean, two years younger than him, to advance at this Wimbledon warm-up tournament.
A former world number thirteen player, Nieminen nervously entered the court after a disappointing run of form and lost an early serve in the first set. With the passage of time, he regained his form and rhythm and managed to snatch
the break back. Later the Finn held his remaining serves convincingly and broke younger one’s serve again in the end to pocket the set by winning seven games to five.
The 75 percent of first serve share he clobbered was slightly higher than Gonzalez’s 73 percent and the Finn also registered an impressive 63 percent win on it. He committed zero breakpoint and saved two out of three breakpoints
conceded. Nieminen converted two out of five breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to help clinch easily.
Ranked 50th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Nieminen re-kindled his old spark in the final set as lost his serve once but reeled off remaining six games to bag a breadstick.
He earned a plausible 65 percent win on his slightly higher first serve share and converted all three breakpoint chances to his advantage through his massive forehands.
The Finn hasn’t had much progress this season as he exited from the opening or second rounds from all the tournaments he entered. He showed his skills at Rome Masters 1000 event where he made it into the third round through qualifiers
but then fell to a three match losing streak also losing in the opening round of French Open. Nieminen snapped out of his losing streak in this tournament and now aims to win his maiden title this year.
He will next face German Denis Gremelmayr who triumphed over French qualifier, Ludovic Walter in straight sets to reach this spot.
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