Matteo Viola rallies past Henri Laaksonen into the second round – KEIO Challenger 2012
World number 138, Matteo Viola of Italy, defeated Switzerland’s 292nd ranked player, Henri Laaksonen, in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of the KEIO Challenger in Yokohama, Japan on Tuesday.
Viola and Laaksonen did not drop their serve in the first four games, levelling the proceedings at 2-2. The Swiss contender stung a break in the fifth and consolidated on it to go up 4-2. Viola could not make a comeback and went
down 4-6 in the opening set.
Laaksonen pounded two aces and made one double fault, putting in 58 percent of the first serves and sealing 11 of the 15 points on them. The best part of his game was his aggressive and accurate second deliveries, as he won nine
of the 11. The 20-year-old youngster did not give any break opportunity to his opponent and made the most of the one he got.
The Swiss player was looking in a mood to seal the contest quickly, as he hit a blow to Viola in the very first game of the second set to take a 1-0 lead. However, Viola went on a winning spree after that, grabbing four in a row
to turn the scores around to 4-1. The Italian national maintained his lead till the end to grab it 6-3.
Viola hit a single ace and committed the same number of double fault in the second set. The 25-year-old won most of the points on his first deliveries and second returns, claiming 15 of the 21 and seven of the 11 points on them
respectively.
Deciding set went in a strange manner, as all nine opening games were broken, taking the score to 5-4 in favour of Viola. None of the two players even managed to earn a game point in the first eight. Though, Viola succeeded in
holding his serve in the 10th and won it 6-4.
It took Viola one hour and 15 minutes to undo his opponent in a closely contested match.
The Italian contestant is slated to meet the world number 281, Benjamin Mitchell of Australia, at the next stage.
Tags: