Matthew Ebden surprises Ryan Sweeting in the opening round – Hall of Fame Championships 2011
Another top seeded player crashed out in the very first round of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Tuesday, when the fourth seed, Ryan Sweeting of the United States, got beaten at the hands of 157th ranked
Matthew Ebden.
The contest appeared fairly one-sided, with Australian domination witnessed in every minute of play. Ebden outplayed the world number 65, Sweeting, in the most comprehensive manner in straight sets, settling the final scores at
6-4, 6-2, to qualify for the next round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The fourth seeded American appeared in all sorts of confusion at the very beginning of the game and eventually submitted in the second set to end his voyage at the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Sweeting hung in
the contest for just one hour and thirteen minutes before granted three match points to Ebden in the second, which the Aussie rightfully obliged to come out as the winner.
The opening sets took off with aggressive tennis from the Australian, depicting his intentions early. He wasted no time to secure 18 out of 22 first serve points and fully capitalised upon the six double faults from the American
early in the game. Ebden struck two serve breaks to get a commanding position in the opener and then went on to serve out of the set at 6-4 to get one up in the contest.
The following set brought no luck for Sweeting, who kept on sinking further in the game, committing a lot more mistakes than the first set. Three break points from the Aussie marked an end to the contest at 6-2, sending him into
the second round of the tournament.
Ebden’s victory was hugely assisted by the error-ridden game of the American competitor, who’s errant strokes missed the court on regularity to bestow easy points to his opponent. Sweeting conceded eight expensive double faults,
which proved very much taxing in the later parts of the game. He showed some signs of life in the opening set but proved to be a wall of sand against the flurry of forays from the belligerent Aussie.
23-year-old Ebden crafted a total of 11 break opportunities in the contest and converted five of them to his advantage to upset the fourth seed opponent. Sweeting replied with just two serve breaks in the entire matchup, falling
to the Aussie in a humiliating manner in the second set.
Ebden will face Matthias Bachinger of Germany in the second round clash later this week.
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