Paolo Lorenzi slogs Dominik Meffert to reach the qualifying competition – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Seeded at number four in the qualifying draw, Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi defeated the unseeded German opponent, Dominik Meffert, in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday. He took one hour and 23 minutes of play to dispose
of the 30-year-old age fellow in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, marching into the qualifying competition for the season’s first ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, California.
It was a pretty one-sided affair and the Italian fourth seed dominated the show for most of the time to stamp his authority. He was off to a flyer in the opening set and then carried on with his impetus in the rest of the match
to conclude a comprehensive victory in the end. Meffert faced off against Lorenzi for the first time in his career but couldn’t figure out any weakness in his game play, eventually falling to his aggression in the second set of the match.
Lorenzi’s exceptional first serve reached 71 per cent precision in the match and he secured 24 out of 39 points on it to drive Meffert out of the competition. The Italian converted five of his eight break opportunities, whilst
his opponent could register two out of his seven chances to finish on the losing side in the end.
The fourth seed Italian took off the opening set with an early serve break to reveal his aggressive intent. Meffert held a couple of serve games in trying to regroup but another cracking break of serve left him stunned in the set.
Lorenzi got one up early in the match, winning the opener at 6-2. The unseeded German posed some late resistance in the following set, breaking the Italian serve twice but dropped his own serve three times to fritter away the advantage. Lorenzi eventually
served out of the match at 6-4 to clear the opening round of the qualifying draw.
The Italian seed will take on the American wildcard entrant, Daniel Kosakowski, in the qualifying competition on Wednesday. He stunned the 22nd seed Swiss opponent, Marco Chiudinelli, in the first round clash on Tuesday
afternoon.
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