Paul-Henri Mathieu crushes Pierre-Hugues Herbert to reach quarters – ATP Roller Open 2012 CH
In an all-French affair, wild card recipient Paul-Henri Mathieu devastated his compatriot, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, with a breadstick at the ATP Roller Open 2012 on Thursday. He formulated a 6-2, 6-1 success against the 21-year-old to charge into the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event held in Petange, Luxembourg.
The former world number 12 re-kindled his spark to outrun Herbert in their first encounter. After earning the fame in 63 minutes, Mathieu assertively secured a spot in the final eight at this hard court tournament.
Mathieu enthusiastically stepped into the Luxembourgian courts. He swiftly swiped his entire serves without facing any barrier. The French veteran cashed in both break chances and pulled out the opener with a 6-2 score line.
Currently ranked 114th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Mathieu carried his rhythm in the following set. He quickly bagged the opening three games and jumped to a 3-0 lead. After Herbert held his serve in the fourth game, the French veteran availed another break opportunity and conquered the last three games in a row. He amazingly dusted away both breakpoints he came across to keep his entire serves. The higher ranked French capitalised on two out of seven break chances and sealed the set with a breadstick.
Summing up performance of the 30-year-old, Mathieu coughed more unforced errors and smacked fewer aces. He also produced a poor first serve share of 36 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 59 per cent but brilliantly availed 13 out of 16 points on it.
Next in queue for Mathieu is the Czech contender, Jan Hernych, who stunned third seed Ricardas Berankis in a three-set thriller to set up this battle.
The eighth seed, Ivan Dodig, also earned the glory later that day. He hit back at Czech Republic’s Jan Minar in a three-set nail-biter to clobber a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) score line in two hours and 14 minutes.
Dodig will next face the fourth seed, Tobias Kamke from Germany. The wild card recipient fended off late resistance to triumph over Great Britain’s Josh Goodall in straight sets.
Tags: