Prakash Amritraj prevails over Toshihide Matsui in the opening round – KEIO Challenger 2012
World number 806, Prakash Amritraj of India, stunned the local wild card entrant, Toshihide Matsui, in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(3) in the first round of the KEIO Challenger on Yokohama, Japan. The Indian player needed one hour and
32 minutes to undo his rival in an easy match.
Matsui won his serve in the first game to take a 1-0 lead but Amritraj went on a winning spree afterwards, bagging five in a row to gain a 5-1 lead. Matsui managed to cut the trail to 2-5 by holding his serve once more in the seventh
but he could not break back even once, losing it 2-6.
Both players hit a couple of aces but Amritraj committed one double fault compared to none by Matsui. The Indian player had a lower first serve percentage than his Japanese rival but his conversion rate was superb, as he secured
13 of the 16 points on the first deliveries. The 29-year-old also sent very good returns to the first serves of Matsui, grabbing 13 of the 24 first return points. The California, USA resident did not come across any break point and availed two of the five
chances he created in the opener.
In contrast to the first set, the second one saw a stiff competition between both players. Neither of the two players succeeded in striking in the opening 10 games, equalising the score at 5-5. Amritraj made a breakthrough in the
11th one to get into a winning position but he lost his serve at that moment to take the score to 6-6, forcing a tie-breaker. The Indian player fully dominated the second part of it to win 7-6(3).
Amritraj pounded three aces and did not commit any double fault this time. On the other hand, Matsui failed to hit any ace and made three horrible double faults. The Indian player improved drastically improved his second serves,
converting 10 of the 12 of them into points. The right-hander capitalised on the only break opportunity he created in the second set.
The Indian contestant will play either fifth seed, Hiroki Moriya, or Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round.
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