Juan Carlos Ferrero pink-slips Bastian Knittel in 1st round – Mercedes Cup 2011
The 31-year-old Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero pink slipped German, Bastian Knittel in their first round match at the 2011 Mercedes Cup at the Tennis Club Weissenhof in Stuttgart, Germany. The world number eighty five, Ferrero,
had a speedy victory 6-2, 6-4 against Bastian, winning both the sets.
The German ( Bastian Knittel), at the age of 27, saved only six out of eight break points where his opponent managed to secure both the break points giving him a hundred percent in the first set. Knittel won just thirty five percent
of his second-serve points and only thirty three percent of his second return points; he delivered six double faults and one ace hence, winning only twenty five points out of sixty points he lost miserably to his opponent in the first set.
In the second set Bastian Knittel served two aces and had a sixty seven percent of the first serve points. Although, played this set a bit better than the first, he still lost the set 6-4. He committed four double faults, was not
able to save any of the three break points, and out of the total points won, he only managed to win twenty six making it forty one percent. While, Carlos served only one ace, had three double faults, total service points were eighteen out of thirty making
it sixty percent and total return points were nineteen out of thirty three making it fifty eight percent, thus, total points won were thirty seven out of sixty three making it a fifty nine percent win of the set.
Overall, Bastian had ten double faults, only fifty five percent of break points were saved and out of a total of hundred and twenty five game points he only managed to win fifty one, a mere forty one percent. Whereas, the Spaniard,
Carlos Ferrero also served three aces but served only four double shots, won sixty seven percent of his total service points and achieved fifty four percent of total return points, thus attaining a total of seventy four points out of a hundred and twenty five
game points making it a straight two set victory over Bastian.
2011, has not been such a great year for Carlos, as he has seen a steady decline, at the beginning of the year he was at world number 28 (as of the tenth of January 2011) and as of July 2011 ranks at world number eighty five. The
right handed, Ferrero, has only played five matches till date and has lost 2 giving him a total year to date win of 3 matches. In 2010, the Espanola had a year-end ranking in Top 30 for the ninth time in 11 years; he compiled a 14-match winning streak, which
was the second-longest of his career (In 2002 he won 16 times in a row).
Despite the age factor, the Espanola, Juan Carlos Ferrero won both the sets thus gaining a 2-0 lead into the next round, where he will be facing the 29-year-old Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Tags: