Jesse Huta Galung overcomes Michal Konecny in the first round – Copa Seville Challenger 2012
World number 255, Jesse Huta Galung of the Netherlands, advanced to the second round by toppling the 319th ranked player from Czech Republic, Michal Konecny, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the opener at the Copa Seville Challenger
in Spain on Sunday.
Huta Galung and Konecny did not drop their serve in the first six games, levelling the score at 3-3. The Dutch player struck in the seventh and consolidated on it to take a 5-3 lead. Serving to stay in the set at that moment, Konecny
could not pass the test and lost it 3-6.
The 26-year-old banged in three aces and did not make any double fault, maintaining a first serve percentage of 63. The Dutchman was almost flawless on the first deliveries, as he lost only a single point on them, winning 11 of
the 12. The right-hander did not face any break point and converted two of the eight he received in the opener.
Second set was the most competitive of all, as both players held their serve in the opening nine games to take the score to 5-4 in favour of Konecny. That was the moment when the Czech player hit a blow to Huta Galung and sealed
it 6-4.
Konecny smashed a single ace and committed the same number of double fault. The Czech player delivered 55 percent of the first serves and grabbed nine of the 17 points on them. The 22-year-old gave most impressive performance on
the second ones, as he won 12 of the 14. Konecny succeeded in putting away the only break threat he came across and utilised one of the four chances he got in the second set.
After getting stunned in the second set, Huta Galung raised the level of his game and looked like a completely different player in the decider. The Dutch player claimed first three games to grab a 3-0 lead. Konecny held his serve
in the fourth and cut the trail to 1-3. Huta Galung took hold of the proceedings once more after that to clinch it 6-1.
The Dutch player served even better than the first set, as he pocketed the entire first and six of the eight points on the second deliveries in the final set.
It took Galung two hours and five minutes to close out a tough match and move to the next stage.
The Dutchman will play the top seed, Roberta Bautista-Agut, or Facundo Arguello in the second round.
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