Michael Llodra battles past Andreas Beck into title match – Orleans Challenger 2011
Second seeded local wildcard entrant, Michael Llodra battled past German Andreas Beck into the title match of the 2011 Orleans Challenger in France on Saturday, 22nd October. The Frenchman survived a mid match lapse as he took nearly two hours and thirteen minutes to secure a 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3 win over the German.
Coming into the match with a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head, Llodra was able to extend his winning streak to three matches over the German with his semi-final win here. The pair had previously contested in the first round of the 2010 Rome event.
Determined to snap his losing streak against the Frenchman, the German started the semi-final match on a strong note. Holding his serve in the first and all the games that followed, Beck matched blow for blow with the higher ranked Frenchman. Although he faced a breakpoint opportunity in the eleventh game, the German was quick on his feet as he saved it comfortably. The neck-to-neck run eventually forced the set into a tiebreaker.
Neither of the two let up in the tiebreaker for the first eight points. However, a lucky break came the Frenchman’s way as he reeled off three straight points to clinch the tiebreaker 7-4 going one up in the set score. The hard hitting Frenchman hit a resounding total of ten aces to Beck’s zero along with three double faults and a 91 percent win on his first serve to take the edge from the lower ranked German.
Down but not out, Beck bounced back in the second set. Opening the set with a successful break, Beck went into an early 2-0 lead. However, the set saw no action after as the pair kept the score levelled at all times all the way to 5-4. Trailing a break down in the set, Llodra broke back in the tenth game to bring the score to five games each. However, his burst of energy was short lived as the German broke back in the eleventh game to once more take the lead, eventually serving out the set for a 7-5 win.
With a set win a piece, the match entered the decider. A refocused Llodra was able to break his opponent in the fourth game after several deuces to take a 3-1 lead. The Frenchman rode the single breakpoint opportunity to serve out the set at 6-3, ensuring his survival at the event.
Llodra now moves on ahead to play his compatriot, Arnaud Clement in an all Frenchman title match.
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