Nicolas Mahut battles past Arnaud Clement into the quarterfinal – Moselle Open 2011
World number 92, Nicolas Mahut of France strained hard to overcome his fellow compatriot, Arnaud Clement, in the second round of the Moselle Open on Thursday night.
The contest was staged on the indoor hard courts of the Arenes de Metz, in the city of Metz, France, with Mahut registering a hard-fought victory at 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, after toiling for two hours and thirty three minutes of play.
Mahut registered his ninth victory of the current season to make a place in the quarter-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament. He kept his clean record against Clement, defeating him
for a fourth time in a row to lead the all-time head-to-head series against him by 4-0. The last time these two men faced each other was at the Wimbledon Championships in 2007, with Mahut winning 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, in the opening round.
Unseeded in the tournament, Mahut displayed his steely nerves in the contest to take down the belligerent Clement in three sets. He dropped the opening set early in the game to fall on the back foot right from the start but made
a tremendous recovery to race past Clement in the following two sets to claim victory.
Clement earned a wildcard to play at the Moselle Open and stunned everyone when he disposed of the fifth seeded Michael Llodra in straight sets in the opening round on Tuesday. He took off the opener in the similar fashion but
then lost his way through the next sets as the contest progressed and finished on the losing side in the end.
Plenty of aces were witnessed in the matchup, with Mahut firing 15 and his opponent replying with 11. Clement coughed five expensive double faults on critical moments in the competition to let Mahut take the advantage. He converted
two of his five break opportunities but had to suffer three break point conversions from the other Frenchman to lose the matchup. Clement fought valiantly in the contest but Mahut proved to be too good for him in the end, earning a place in the round of eight
of the Moselle Open.
Much difficult task awaits Mahut in the quarter-final round, as he will go one-on-one with the world number 10, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, to fight for a place in the semis. Tsonga forced his way into the quarter-final draws
after outclassing his fellow compatriot, Mathieu Rodrigues, in the second round of the tournament.
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