Olivier Rochus defeats Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round of Monte Carlo Masters
Olivier Rochus ousted Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela in three sets to reach the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters tournament on Monday.
Rochus, turned pro in 1999, is at a current ranking of world number 78 in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) singles rankings list. The Belgian has high expectations and is very much looking forward to move it into the
finals spot to compete for Monte-Carlo Masters trophy and sterling €2,750,000.
The Belgian couldn’t reach the quarterfinals at the Miami Masters, losing to Roger Federer in straight sets. His best performance in the year came at Le Gosier, Guadeloupe, where he reached the finals of Orange Open Guadeloupe,
claiming to be the first Belgian champion at the event since its inception in 2011. The Belgian’s last appearance at the Monte Carlo tournament came in 2010 where he couldn’t move past the first round as he procured retirement from the tournament due to an
injury.
The pair had already met three times at different ATP world tour occasions. Their first meeting came at the Rome Masters in 2003 where Chela outplayed Rochus with a breadstick. Looking into their last head-to-head at the 2004 Qatar
ExxonMobil Open, Chela had then defeated his lower ranked opponent in their round of 32 match.
Playing for the first time at the Monte Carlo tournament it was Rochus’s turn to pay back all the favours. The Belgian remained on top of his 31-year-old contestant throughout the match, not allowing him to bounce back. Rochus
recorded 50 percent of points on first serves whereas Chela lagged behind with 46 percent in conversion. Both players hit a single ace and double faulted twice in the set. However, Rochus converted 4 of 6 break points successfully to grab the set with a 6-4
score line.
The second set witnessed an unexpected turnaround, as the 31-year-old went on to play more vigorously. It looked as if the Argentine had just taken his defeat positively, analyzing his opponent’s game strategy to break back. He
hammered a single ace and 68 percent on first serves to win 65 percent points on them. Moreover he converted 33 percent of breakpoint chances in service and 60 percent in return to bag the second set with a 7-5 score line.
The final set was the most interesting and challenging one as both players were trying hard to enter the second round. As a matter of fact both were equally good at most of the areas in the final set, but the deciding factor of
Rochus’ success was the breakpoint opportunities. Rochus converted 50 percent breakpoints in service and 100 percent in return to clinch the final set 7-5.
Rochus, who won the first round match against Chela, will next play the fifth seeded wildcard entrant Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic.
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