Martin Klizan and Bastian Knittel advance to the second round of 2011 Rome Open
Martin Klizan Of Slovakia ousted number seven seed German Simon Greul 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 on Tuesday to reach the second round of 2011 Rome Open in Italy.
Klizan looked a bit out of sort as the match started. He struggled to time the ball and over hit his forehand and backhand shots on a number of occasions. His opponent, Greul stayed calm under pressure and made the crucial serve
break in the seventh game to clinch the opening set 6-4.
In the second set, Klizan organized his game and came up with a great counter attack. Despite losing his first serve game of the set, the Slovakian came back strongly to pocket the next five straight games. Serving for the set
at 5-1, Klizan converted a long rally in his favour to level the set score 1-1.
The final set was also expected to be a thriller but as it turned out, Klizan clinched the set without dropping a single game. The match lasted for 2 hours and 9 minutes.
Klizan used the drop short to great effect as he over smarted his opponent on several occasions. He dominated his opponent in nearly all aspects of the game. His first serve point’s conversion was as high as 72 percent and he claimed
50 percent of the points on return. Ranked 171 in the world completed his victory with a superb forehand winner down the line.
The 21-year-old Klizan has struggled to find his form since the start of this season but here at red clay courts in Rome, he looked in great touch as he smashed his shots all over the court. He will be hoping to achieve similar
results in his next match-ups at the tournament.
In another match Bastian Knittel of Germany eased past French Augustin Gensse 6-3, 6-2 to book his place in the second round of the Challengers Cup.
Knittel started the match on a positive note as he broke the serve in the very first game of the opening set. The German then had another chance of breaking the serve in seventh game of the set to earn a significant 5-2 in the
set. He bagged the first set after scoring four straight points in his next serve game.
The second set also followed a similar pattern. German continued to play hi natural game with freedom and dropped only a couple of games in the set to complete a deserving victory. Gensse on the other hand was disappointed at his
ordinary effort. He was unable to convert the chances he had in the match and hence paid the price.
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