Kenny de Schepper and Maxime Authom qualify through the second qualifier – Moselle Open 2012
Kenny de Schepper rallies past Laurynas Grigelis 7-5, 6-0
Ranked 327th in the South African Airways ATP Singles Rankings, Laurynas Grigelis received a straight sets upset at the hands of the local challenger, Kenny de Schepper in the second qualifier of the
Moselle Open 2012, France. The local challenger summed up a 7-5, 6-0 win in a total of one hour and seven minutes on Saturday.
The 25-year-old, Schepper, held his initial serve in the opener but had to face a hard battle at the hands of Grigelis. The score line evened out four times as the momentum of the game rapidly shifted. Both players
were unable to break each other’s serves throughout the set but towards the end, Schepper nudged ahead to grab the last two games and mark a 7-5 score line.
In the next set, the world number 211, sustained his lead and busted the 21-year-old Grigelis’ initial serve. He continued his strong game plan since the start and clinched all the games without any trouble.
In the end, he confidently closed the set with a 6-0 win.
The right-hander Frenchman fired 12 aces and manifested 66 percent initial serve precision. He bagged away 28 of 35 point. The Lithuanian native had a low first serve accuracy of 53 percent and capitalized 17
of 32 points.
Maxime Authom fights past Jan Minar 6-4, 6-7(9), 7-6(3)
World number 175, Maxime Authom, edged past his Czech rival, Jan Minar, in the second qualifier of the Moselle Open. He summed up his 6-4, 6-7(9), 7-6(3), hard-fought triumph in two hours and 37 minutes on Sunday.
The right-hander Czech served the opening set and took advantage of the opportunity to secure a 2-1 lead. However, the score line evened out to 2-all in the fourth and 3-all in the sixth game respectively. He
faced a tough competition by his rival but Authom busted his serve in the seventh game and clinched a 4-3 lead. Towards the end, Minar struggled hard to upset his challenger but lost the set with a 4-6 score.
The 31-year-old Czech did not lose hope but his Belgian rival broke his serve in third game. The competition continued to rapidly shifted momentum and Minar closed the set with a 6-7(9) score after a close tiebreaker
round.
In the decider, the Czech picked up early pace to snatch the initial two games by busting his rival’s initial serve. Authom successfully managed to comeback in action and evened out the scores to 4-all by the
end of the end of eighth game. Like before, the Belgian veteran advanced successfully and concluded the match with a 7-6 score.
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