Julien Benneteau edges past Rui Machado in the opening round at the 2011 French Open
World number 81, Julien Benneteau of France fulfilled locals’ hopes, as he defeated Rui Machado of Portugal in the first round of the French Open on Sunday. The local boy took down Machado in an exciting game, finishing off at
4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, taking two hours and twenty nine minutes of play on the opening day of the competition.
It was the fourth victory for the Frenchman in the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, while he has suffered defeats eight times. Benneteau displayed his excellent tennis skills to outplay Machado and advance
to the next stage of the Grand Slam event. The French beat his opponent in every segment of the game and made the most of his opportunities in the contest to come out as the winner.
Benneteau had a sloppy start to the game and the Portuguese competitor fully capitalised on it to reel off the opener. The French then made a terrific comeback in the following set and then carried on his momentum all way to victory.
He displayed his blistering form to reel off the last three sets in the most assertive manner to leave Machado answerless.
Machado competed very well in the opening set but seemed to have lost his way in the later parts of the game. His 44 unforced errors, including six doubles faults wore him out in the game, as his crafty opponent capitalised his
weaknesses very skilfully to come out as the winner. Machado suffered eight serve breaks from Benneteau, while he cashed in just two out of his six break opportunities to remain at the losing end.
The Portuguese took off the opener aggressively and struck an early serve break to get the upper hand in the contest. Benneteau also secured a serve break in the set but a second break point conversion from the Portuguese sealed
the first set at 6-4.
The French regrouped very quickly in the following set and came out firing at Machado, stinging two consecutive breaks to take the second set at 6-1. Benneteau repeated the similar feat to bag the third set as well, clinching it
at 6-2 and getting into a commanding lead in the contest.
Benneteau’s dominance continued in the fourth set as well and he finished off his demolition job by wrapping up victory at 6-0. The French now books a date with the world number seven, David Ferrer of Spain in the second round
of the French Open. Ferrer was successful against Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, in the opening round of Roland Garros.
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