Nicolas Devilder trounces Michael Berrer to reach round three of Roland Garros: Tennis Special
In a match between two left-handed qualifiers, local star Nicolas Devilder trounced Germany’s Michael Berrer in straight sets at the French Open 2012 on Wednesday. He nudged up a 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2 victory against the 31-year-old to breeze into the round of
32 at this second of the four Grand Slam event held in Paris, France.
The Frenchman displayed exceptional skills and abilities to outmuscle Berrer in their fourth meeting. After earning this success, Devilder not only avenged his loss at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca last season but also levelled the FedEx ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 2-2 against the world number 114.
Devilder made a sloppy entry at the court number three and suffered the first blow in the opening game to trail at 0-1. Despite recovering in the very next game, he lost his serve once again and subsequently fell at 1-3. However, the French not only snatched
his break back in the sixth game but remained focused and dragged the set to the tie-breaker. He edged past his rival in it and clinched the opener with a 7-6(5) score line.
Ranked 286th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Devilder swiftly swiped in his entire serves after brushing off both breakpoints he came across. He got the breakthrough in the fifth game and clicked the set by winning six games to four.
The 32-year-old local contender went out of control in the final set. He blasted powerful groundstrokes to reel off the opening four games in a row before the German could hold on. Devilder held remaining serves and clinched the set with a 6-2 score line
in 40 minutes.
All in all, Devilder formulated a poor first serve share of 49 per cent as compared to his rival’s 75 per cent but impressively availed 31 out of 45 points on it.
Next challenge for Devilder is the world number one, Novak Djokovic from Serbia.
The top seeded Djokovic was broken once but cashed in six out of 15 break chances to formulate a 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Blaz Kavcic. He committed more unforced errors but brilliantly hammered 41 winners to conquer the match.
"He was defending really well in the second and third sets, especially in the second," said the Serbian number one after the match. "I gave him the opportunity to come back to the match after a perfect first set, first seven games. Of course I didn't underestimate
my opponent today. I expected him to fight. I expected him to come back. He didn't have anything to lose, and he showed his quality and it was a really, really great second and third set.”
He also clobbered a better first serve share of 67 per cent as opposed to his opponent’s 64 per cent and magnificently marked 36 out of 49 points on it. The high flying Serb fired five vicious aces and clinched the match with 97 points.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: