Mikhail Youzhny, Xavier Malisse clear the second round – Wimbledon Championships 2011
World number 17, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, kept his clean record against India’s Somdev Devvarman, defeating the 68th ranked in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships on Thursday.
The Russian took one hour and fifty seven minutes before he concluded his straight sets victory at 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, to move into the next round of the third Grand Slam tournament of the year.
It was the 12th victory Youzhny registered in the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, while losing 12 matches along with it. The Indian also suffered a defeat in singles encounter against Youzhny
in the Fed Cup, when the Russian took him down in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.
Youzhny appeared in his full flow in the Thursday’s matchup, driving Devvarman out of the competition with ease. He faced six break points from the Indian but denied him every single time, while cracking four out eight serve breaks
en route to victory.
The 18th seed Russian reeled off 46 out of 60 first serve points in the contest and raced through his games very quickly to reach victory in the third set. Devvarman had a sloppy start to the contest, dropping serve
in the very first game and letting Youzhny to take the better of him. Youzhny went on to win the opener at 6-2 and then carried on his winning momentum in the following two sets as well to come out as the winner in the end.
Up next for Youzhny in the third round is the 16th seed Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro, who defeated John Isner of the United States to reach the third round.
Unseeded Belgian, Xavier Malisse made a big upset in the second round when he defeated the 20th seed, Florian Mayer of Germany in the match that followed on Thursday. Malisse wrapped up victory at 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2,
taking merely 95 minutes of play and booked a spot in the third round of the mega event.
Mayer had a blasting start to the contest and clinched the opening set in just 21 minutes before losing his steam in the later sets. Malisse turned the tide in the very next set to outclass Mayer at 6-3 after he stung his first
serve break of the contest. The Belgian then carried on with his aggression to wrap up the next two sets at 6-2, 6-2, to surprise the German opponent, ending his voyage at Wimbledon this year.
Malisse will face either the 11th seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria or Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in the third round draw of the tournament.
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