Kenny de Schepper dispatches Maxime Authom in the semi-finals – Rennes Challenger 2012 CH
Ranked 144th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Kenny de Schepper, battled past the Belgium professional, Maxime Authom, in the semi-finals of the Rennes Challenger 2012 held at the hard courts of
GreenSet, France. The local challenger consolidated a straight sets, 7-6(3), 6-3, triumph on Saturday.
Both the players encountered each other for the third time in their tennis careers. Earlier in October, Schepper’s gave his contender a straight sets defeat, 7-5, 7-6(5), in the quarter-finals on his home ground at Mons Challenger,
Belgium.
The two participants began the match with a reason serves in the opener. They assertively served each other, striking back with equal passion and did not give their rival a single chance to dominate. The score line squared down
after every alternate game, the competitors dusted each other way and landed with a 6-6 score line. The Frenchman fought back to claim the victory and the levelled down the proceedings for the initial part of the tiebreaker. However, he raced forward and terminated
the set with a 7-6(3) score.
In the second set, the 25-year-old, Schepper, played with a defensive mode throughout. The Belgian right-hander equally responded back and squared the score line to 2-all in the fourth game. The higher ranked French professional
completely took over when he cashed the lone break opportunity in the sixth game. He took a flying start to the end did not give his competitor a single chance to come on top. Eventually, he maintained his poise and beautifully served to lock the match with
a 6-3 win.
The world number 178, Authom, had an average initial serve of 53 percent with 14 of 20 first and seven of 18 second delivery points. He was unable to capitalize even on a single serve break bestowed on him. In comparison to that
French participant bagged four aces with slightly better initial serve of 62 percent, maintaining 14 of 18 first and seven of 11 second delivery points.
For the final match, Schepper will contest against the Ukrainian professional, Illya Marchenko. In the previous round, he rallied past the fourth seeded, Olivier Rochus.
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