Nicolas Mahut eases through Maximilian Neuchrist in round one – Salzburg Indoors 2011 CH
Seeded at number two in the singles draw, the French veteran, Nicolas Mahut, had no real trouble in disposing of the local wildcard entrant, Maximilian Neuchrist, in the opening round match of the Salzburg Indoors on Wednesday afternoon.
Being part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour, the competition was played on the hard courts of Salzburg, Austria, with Mahut coming out as the winner in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. The second seed took merely 54 minutes of play to book a berth in the second round of the Challenger Tour event in an assertive fashion.
Neuchrist proved a total mismatch for the French veteran, whose dominance was evident in every segment of the game. Mahut dropped just four points on his 68 per cent precise serve, clinching 23 out of 17, in the contest to take the better of his bleak opponent. 79th ranked French nailed four of his seven break opportunities to drive away the Austrian, who badly failed to craft a single break point in the entire matchup to finish on the losing side.
Neuchrist’s error-ridden game proved to be his cause of fall in the Wednesday’s contest. The Austrian wildcard sprayed a number of errant strokes all over the court, including nine costly double faults, to remain at a disadvantage on every stage of the match.
Mahut was off to a flying start in the opening set, breaking the Austrian in his first serve game to lead 2-0. The bewildered 20-year-old failed to recover from the early damage throughout the opener and eventually dropped his serve for a second time in the match to let Mahut away with the first set at 1-6.
French domination continued with its full effect in the following set as well, with Mahut seizing 10 out of his 11 first serve points to inch closer to victory. He stung two successive breaks of serve in the seventh and ninth game of the second set to close out the matchup at 6-3, moving into the round of 16 of the tournament with ease.
Mahut will take on the German qualifier, Dennis Bloemke, in the second round to battle for a place in the quarter-final rounds of the Salzburg Indoors. Bloemke took down the other Austrian wildcard, Thomas Muster, in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round of the tournament a day ago.
Tags: