Julien Benneteau defeats Somdev Devvarman; moves into the quarter-finals – AEGON International 2011
After an enthralling contest at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne, United Kingdom, Julien Benneteau of France defeated India’s Somdev Devvarman in the second round of AEGON International.
The Frenchman battled extremely hard to take down his opponent in three sets 7-6(1), 6-7(6), 6-3, taking two hours and thirty four minutes of play on Wednesday. Benneteau’s victory over Devvarman earned him a place in the quarter-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
The action-packed thriller brought out the best from the two contestants, with each straining hard to come out as the winner. Intense tennis was seen throughout the contest, with two of the opening sets being decided in a tie breaker round. Benneteau drew first blood when he edged past his opponent in the opening set tie breaker to get one up in the contest but Devvarman retaliated in the similar manner to bag the second set and levelled the matchup with one set a piece. The Indian lost steam in the later parts of the final set and had to submit the game to the resilient Frenchman.
Benneteau served brilliantly with 74 per cent precision, while his opponent followed him with 60 per cent. The French clinched 49 out of 70 first serve points to get the better of his rival in the contest and converted four of his 10 break points en route to victory.
The Indian had plenty of chances in the game but squandered most of them carelessly to remain at disadvantage. He struck just two serve breaks in the entire matchup and was denied five times by the brilliance of Benneteau.
The opener took off with an early exchange of serve breaks from both contestants, followed by a routine game which tied the scores at 6-6 to enforce a mandatory tie breaker round. Benneteau absolutely blew away the Indian in the tie breaker to seal the opening set at 7-6(1) and get the upper hand in the game.
Both men failed to break the opponent’s serve in the following set and a tie breaker round came into play once again. Devvarman proved his mettle this time round and reeled off three consecutive points to clinch the second set at 7-6(6).
The Indian crumbled in the final set of the match and dropped serve three times in a row to submit the game to his French opponent at 3-6. Benneteau moves into the quarter-finals, where he will face Igor Kunitsyn of Russia for a place in the semis.
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