Nicolas Mahut battles past Paul Capdeville to enter round two – BB&T Atlanta Open 2012
French contestant, Nicolas Mahut, outmuscled the Chilean star, Paul Capdeville, in a see-saw three setter at the BB&T Atlanta Open 2012 on Monday. He penned down a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory against the world number 139 to progress into the second round at this outdoor hard court tournament taking place in Georgia, United States.
The French veteran smashed 12 aces and required one hour and 59 minutes to outclass Capdeville. Battling each other for the first time, Mahut not only edged in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 1-0 against the 29-year-old but also booked a place in the pre-quarters at the Atlantic Station in Johns Creek.
Ranked 66th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Mahut quickly made on the right track after entering this ATP World Tour 250 series event. He broke his opponent’s serve twice and jumped to a 5-1 lead. Despite squandering his chance of serving out the set with a breadstick, the French held his serve once more and sealed the opener by winning six games to three.
Capdeville spilled six double faults in the following set and lost his serve once. However, he cashed in two out of four break opportunities and spectacularly clinched 16 out of 18 points on his first serve share, subsequently pulling out the equaliser with a 6-3 win.
The match could have gone in any direction but the French challenger was the one who re-gained his strength. Apart from failing to block the lone breakpoint he encountered in the fifth game, Mahut recovered in the very next game and got the breakthrough in the last game. He capitalised on two out of 10 break chances and clicked the decider with a 6-4 score line.
Summing up the 30-year-old’s performance, Mahut clobbered a slightly lower first serve share of 54 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 55 per cent but brilliantly marked 32 out of 42 points on it.
The South African number one, Kevin Anderson, also earned the glory later that day. He nudged up a 6-4, 6-3 victory against the Italian contender, Paolo Lorenzi, in straight sets to secure this spot.
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