Mitchell Frank gets the better of Nicolas Monroe in 2nd qualifying – Charlottesville Challenger 2011
Unseeded American Mitchell Frank defeated second seeded compatriot Nicolas Monroe in the second qualifying round of Charlottesville Challenger 2011.
The players took up the sword on indoor hard courts of the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Virginia. After one hour and thirty one minutes Frank ousted the higher ranked compatriot (Monroe) in straight sets of 7-6(2),
6-4 on Sunday the 30th of October 2011.
It took Frank a little effort to clog the opening set but eventually he managed to do so by bagging the tiebreaker. Frank had a geometric precision and had committed zero double faults. In addition, he also expertly smashed three
aces. Although he had only targeted 58 percent of his first serves, he managed to achieve 68 percent of his first serve points won. Moreover, the unseeded American had tactfully saved four out of six breakpoints and had benefited from a hundred percent of
his breakpoints won.
The initial round of the match was opened by Frank and he got off to a great start as he reeled off successive two games against his opponent to place himself on the scoreboard with a mini lead of 2-0. However, in the following
two games Monroe made a return by breaking his adversary in the third game and then by breaking Frank in the fourth game, he closed in on the deficit.
In the fifth and the sixth game Franck once again took the lead by squandering off two consecutive games against his adversary with a hold of serve and by benefitting from a breakpoint. However, Monroe was quick to reduce the deficit
by breaking back immediately in the next game and with a hold of serve closed the lead at 4-4 by the end of the eighth game.
In the following two games the players again managed to break each other back-to-back to tie the score at 5-5 on the scoreboard. In the following two games, the players won on their respective scores, pushing the set into a tiebreaker
by the end of the twelfth game.
The head-to-head run between the two lost steam amidst the tiebreaker and Frank was quick to take a lead at 2-0 by breaking his adversary. Nevertheless, with a series of breaks and holds, the unseeded American managed to clinch
the tiebreaker at 7-2 and was now one up in the match.
The second set saw another toe-to-toe run between the two and the score progressed on even terms. The score was balanced out at 2-2, 3-3, and eventually at 4-4 by the end of the eighth game. During the last two games, Frank first
held his serve and then pressurized his opponent in the last game to error. In doing so; he sealed his victory of the set and the match.
Next up for Frank is another compatriot Steve Johnson in the final qualifying round of the event.
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