Jurgen Melzer ousted Julien Benneteau in the second round of BNP Paribas Open
Austrian Jurgen Melzer outplayed French Julien Benneteau in the second round of BNP Paribas Open. Jurgen defeated his opponent in three set 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to ensure his attendance at the third round of the main draw at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California. Austrian completed his victory in 1 hour and 30 minutes.
96 players are highlighting the BNP Paribas Open. The top 32 seeds were given a bye into the second round, while the remaining players will fight it out for the remaining 32 spots. Melzer, currently ranked 10th in the world, is seeded 10th in the main draw.
The pair has already met each other five times at the ATP World Tour making their official head to head 4-1 in Benneteau’s favour. The pair’s last meeting on tour came two years back when the two met in a round of 32 at the ATP World Tour Master 1000 Cincinnati. Benneteau had emerged victorious in straight sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Given the sixth meeting on court, Melzer did not have a good start to the match as he lost the opening set 1-6. Melzer hit 60 percent of the first serves, winning meager 33 percent of the points on them. However, Benneteau was better than Melzer in this field of the game as he hit two aces and won 87 percent on the first serves. The French saved four of the nine breakpoints he faced in the opening set.
The second set was all-Melzer show. After losing the first set to his lower ranked opponent, the Austrian fought back in the second set, breaking Benneteau in the seventh game. Melzer won the second set 6-1.
The second set saw the 29 year old landing 74 per cent of the first serves managing 59 per cent win on it. His opponent was much weaker as far as conversion of first serves into points was concerned, registering a meager 36 per cent figure.
Continuing with his commitment to the game, final set saw the 29 year old landing 52 per cent of the first serves managing an industrious 79 per cent win on it. This time the Austrian saved 100 percent of the breakpoints he faced.
Melzer was able to wrap up an easy 6-4 victory for himself in the final set.
Melzer, emerging victorious today, has improved his year-to-date win/loss record to 7-4. The Austrian will next face world number 21 Richard Gasquet in the next round. This will be the 3rd meeting between these two players. Melzer leads Gasquet 2-0 in the head-to-head record. In their last meeting, the 29-year-old defeated Gasquet 6-3, 6-4 in the round of 32 at the ATP Masters Series, Germany 4 years back.
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