Michael Llodra stuns Tobias Kamke in the semi-finals – Mons Challenger 2012 CH
Fourth seeded, Tobias Kamke, received straight sets shocker at the hands of his French rival, Michael Llodra, in the semi-finals of Ethias Trophy 2012 held at the hard courts of Mons, Belgium. The French professional, jolted down
a 7-5, 6-2 victory against his higher ranked competitor and successfully made his way to ATP Challenger finals on Sunday.
World number 71, Kamke, made an average start of the opening set. His initial momentum quickly died down as Llodra squared the score line after every alternate game. Surprisingly, both players held their composure and struggled
hard to cash away the opponent's break chance until the last game. The French participant demolished the thick ice by busting Kamke’s serve and nudged forward to steal the opener with a 7-5 score line.
Left-handed Llodra warded off his opponent by firing five aces and belting 72 percent initial serve on target. He secured the lead by converting 20 of 21 first but just four of eight second delivery points. In comparison, the higher
ranked German double faulted three times with 50 percent initial serve accuracy. He secured 14 of 17 first and 10 of 17 second serve points.
In the second set, the 26-year-old German, gave his challenger is desirable break in the very start and Llodra marked his 2-love lead. Kamke miserably failed to seek any opportunity and slowly restored to accept his losing edge.
Llodra carried his rhythm towards the end and engraved his 6-2 win.
Ranked 111th in the ATP World Tour Rankings sustained his composure by smashing six aces onto his rival and improved his initial serve to 67 percent. He attained all 14 of the first and three of seven second delivery
points. The German participant had 56 percent first serve precision with six of 14 points. He lagged behind, as he was unable to capitalize on even a single serve break out of the presented to him.
The duo battled against one another for the second time. Previously, the 32-year-old Llodra summed up his straights sets 6-3, 6-4 win in the second round of the Open 13 held at hard courts Marseille, France.
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