Olivier Rochus takes down Greg Jones to clear opening round – Hall of Fame Championships 2011
World number 74, Olivier Rochus of Belgium stood tall on the first day of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, defeating Greg Jones of Australia at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, United
States, on Monday.
The sixth seed Belgian took one hour and forty minutes of play to wrap up the three-setter at 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to qualify for the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
The contest was fairly poised throughout, with a number of momentum swings taking place in every set to make the matchup more interesting. Rochus took off the proceedings in her typical aggressive manner and bagged the opener to
get hold of the competition early. The unseeded Australian made a stunning comeback in the following set to level the contest at one-all but couldn’t sustain the momentum in the final set and crumbled to let Rochus away with victory.
The 22-year-old Jones bettered his opponent in many segments of the game but when it came to bagging points on crucial moments in the game, Rochus came up to the task. The Australian fired 15 aces in the matchup to gain some un-fought
points and reeled off 36 out of 43 first serve points in the contest, yet finishing on the losing side in the end.
Rochus had a ballistic start in the opening set and reeled off 16 out of 18 first serve points to get into a commanding position early. The Australian competitor closely followed him and held serve in his opening two serve games
before Rochus cracked a fiery forehand down the line to draw first blood, breaking serve to lead 4-2. The Belgian kept his lead in the rest of the set and closed the opener at 6-4 to get 1-0 in the contest.
Jones regrouped quickly in the following set and came out firing at his opponent, clinching 14 out of 15 first serve points and six cracking aces. One serve break from the Australian proved sufficient to close the second set at
6-3 but Rochus turned the tide again in the final set of the match. The Belgian converted one of his three break opportunities to conclude victory at 6-3 and moved into the second round draws of the competition.
Rochus will take on either Nicolas Mahut of France or the Argentine competitor, Sebastian Decoud, in the next clash for a place in the quarter-finals of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
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