Jesse Levine rallied past Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the first round – Moselle Open 2012
World number 78, Jesse Levine, defeated the German contender, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, in the first round of the Moselle Open 2012, held at the hard courts of Metz, France. The American overcame his rival in a total
of one hour and five minutes.
The 24-year-old, Levine, took off a flying start in the opener; he broke the initial two serves of his rival to clinch the initial four games and marked a 4-love lead. The German challenger took a slow pace and
broke his competitor’s serve in the sixth game but was unable to dominate the contest. As he struggled hard to register an upset his opponent but Levine took note of the opportunity and stamped a 6-3 score.
The 21-year-old German smashed two aces and displayed a higher initial serve accuracy of 64 percent. He secured five of 18 first and six of 10 second delivery points. On the other hand, the American participant
was unable to fire a single ace and exhibited 32 percent initial serve precision. He also bagged away five of six first and nine of 13 second serve points. From five serve breaks offered to him, he capitalized only three.
In the second set, the left-hander American professional held his initial serve and drew the first blood to kick off. Like before, he busted his rival’s serve in the second and the fourth game to grab a 5-love
lead. Ranked 131st in the ATP Rankings, Stebe, had a strong baseline defence against Levin but he broke his serve towards the end. His efforts proved to be insignificant and the higher ranked American jumped forward to conclude the
set with a 6-2 win.
This time around, Levine bombarded the German with two aces and had a presentable initial serve accuracy of 68 percent. He also secured 13 of 21 first and six of 10 second serve points. From five break opportunities,
he could only clamp three, whereas Stebe could only attain one of his five chances.
For the next round, Levine will contest against the German, Michael Berrer.
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