Julien Benneteau overruns Ricardo Mello in round 1 – Winston-Salem Open 2011
Finishing off in exactly 50 minutes, Julien Benneteau, Frenchman, bulldozed Ricardo Mello of Brazil in straight sets beating 6-1 and 6-3. Playing the 1st round match of Winston-Salem Open 2011, the Frenchman blistered
the hard court at Wake Forest University taking his seat in round 2.
Previously the two have never been head on against each other. Playing for the first time, the two had equal opportunity as both had played their previous matches on hard courts; however, Benneteau had a greater percentage of wins
of the last 10 matches than the Brazilian.
Mello, the Brazilian world No. 114, has a 7 to 3 win loss ratio considering the past 10 matches. Formerly ranked as world No.50, Mello has a strong left hand and plays perfect near the net, however, still needs to improve his play
on the baseline.
On the contrary, Benneteau had a greater winning streak than that of the Brazilian 30-year-old. The French hard court player has been perfecting his forehands in combination to his agility that he used to work out the 1st round
win.
Moving on with the match, Benneteau started off with serving first and rolling down the scorecard, 1-0. The Frenchman struck off every move that the Brazilian made and won 5 back-to-back matches breaking the 30-year-old twice.
Finally, Mello pulled off one game but the win came too late as the Frenchman took over the final game, 7th, and took away the set 6-1. The Frenchman had 82 percent of his 1st serve points won combined with
a steal strong defence.
Winning 16 service points and 10 service points, Benneteau totalled 26 points to win the first set and on to the next.
Mello opened up the second set to rolled the scorecard before the Frenchman levelled up in no time, 1-1. Breaking the Brazilian in the game 3, Benneteau increased his lead to 3-1 and switched the serve. Cutting of the lead, Mello
pulled off game 5. However, with scores at 3-2, the 29-year-old extended the lead to 4-2.
The Brazilian tried his best to cut the lead, however, could not draw back any more. Breaking the Brazilian in game 9, Benneteau took away the second set as well winning 6-3 taking away the set and the match.
Winning his first rounder, Benneteau took a seat in the 2nd round to play against Igor Kunitsyn, the Russian, to battle it out for the 3rd round seat of the Winston-Salem Open 2011.
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