Michael Llodra surprises John Isner to move to the third round – BNP Paribas Masters 2012
Wild card entrant from France, Michael Llodra, ended John Isner’s slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals, as he defeated the American in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(5), in the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters.
This ATP World Tour Masters 1000 indoor hard court event is being held in Paris, France.
The local player needed one hour and 19 minutes to clinch victory in an evenly contested match.
Llodra showed his intentions from the beginning of the encounter, as he nailed a break in the very first game and held his following serve to attain a 2-0 lead. The French player did not allow his 10th seeded opponent
to bounce back, closing it 6-4.
The 32-year-old veteran fired five aces and did not commit any double fault in the first set. The 6ft 3in tall had a low first serve percentage of 63 but managed to convert 14 of the 15 of them into points. The left-hander did
not face any break point and converted one of the four he received.
Llodra and Isner went to neck to neck during the entire proceedings of the second set, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. The French contender grabbed an early mini-break and maintained his advantage till
the end to capture it 7-6(5).
Ranked 121st in the world, Llodra kept on dominating with the help of his strong serves, firing two aces and keeping the first delivery percentage at 74. The doubles specialist grabbed 22 of the 28 first and six of the
10 second serve points. The Paris, France born player could not answer well to his fellow big server’s blistering first deliveries and lost 22 of the 27 points on them but compensated that by claiming nine of the 18 on second ones.
This is the tournament, where Llodra reached the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career in 2010.
The French contestant will take on the seventh seed, Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, for a place in the last-eight stage.
Tags: