Jurgen Zopp outlasts Kenny de Schepper in the second round – AEGON Trophy 2012 CH
Eighth seed, Jurgen Zopp of Estonia, bounced back after losing the second set to rally past France’s Kenny de Schepper, ranked 168th in the world, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the AEGON Trophy in Nottingham
on Friday.
The Estonian ousted his opponent after a close fight of one hour and 56 minutes.
Zopp and Schepper served superbly in the first set, as they did not lose their serve till the end and levelled the score at 6-6 to take it to a tie-breaker. The Estonian and Frenchman went on equal terms till 3-3 but then the former
grabbed four of the following five points to seal it 7-6(4).
Ranked 103rd in the world, Zopp pounded four aces and 66 percent of the first serves in the opener. He had a satisfactory conversion rate, winning 21 of the 27 first and 11 of the 14 second delivery points. The Estonian
put away the two break threats he came across but also failed to utilise any of the two opportunities he got.
Zopp and Schepper started the second set by holding their serve in the first two games, taking the score to 1-1. The French contender struck in the third and consolidated on it to grab a 3-1 lead. Schepper did not let away the
opportunity till the end and won it 6-4.
The Frenchman served amazingly well, bombarding nine huge aces on his opponent and claiming 16 of the 18 first delivery points. He also performed decently on the second serves and returns, converting five of the nine and seven
of the 16 of them into points respectively in the second set.
After the scores getting tied at one set each, it all came to the decider, where Zopp drew the first blood by grabbing opening three games and securing a 3-0 lead. The Estonian maintained his advantage till the end of the proceedings,
closing it 6-3.
Zopp banged in a couple of aces and did not commit any double fault in the final set. On the other hand, Schepper fired five aces but also made one double fault. Zopp gave a better first serve performance than his opponent, hitting
68 percent of them and snatching 16 of the 17 points. He also succeeded in capturing four of the eight second reply points.
The Estonian will face fourth seed, Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, in the quarter-finals.
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