Raven Klaasen downs Eduardo Struvay; labours into 2nd round – Manta Open 2011 CH
South African Raven Klaasen battled past Colombian Eduardo Struvay in a three set thriller at the Manta Open Trofeo Ricardo Delgado Aray, an ATP Challenger Tour event held on the hard courts in Manta, Ecuador. He registered a 3-6,
7-6(4), 6-1 victory over the 20-year-old Colombian to advance into the second round on Wednesday.
28-year-old South African used his experience in tennis as he bounced from a set down to win in a three setter nail biter match on their first meeting, After earning this one hour and fifty-three minutes victory, he not only took
lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against Struvay but also booked a second round spot in this event. Klaasen is now eyeing for the $35,000 prize money of this tournament.
Ranked 405th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Struvay confidently entered Umina Tenis Club and bagged entire serves after maintaining consistency in his game. He then put the cherry on the set by
breaking the South African serves in third and ninth game to seal the opener with a 6-3 win. The Colombian smacked four aces and produced a much better first serve share of 81 percent as compared to Klaasen’s 63 percent. He also earned an impressive 67 percent
win on it.
World number 327, Klaasen, on the other hand, raised the bar of his game in the second set. He produced a much better first serve share and saved all three breakpoints faced but failed to find any breakpoint chance. The set went
to a tie-breaker where the South African dominated and eventually bagged the equaliser with a 7-6(4) win.
After Struvay held his opening serve in the second game, the Cape Town resident unleashed a barrage of groundstrokes to reel off next five games in a row. He clobbered a higher first serve share of 70 percent as compared to Colombian’s
60 percent and registered a magnificent 79 percent win on it.
Up next for Klaasen is the winner of the match between Colombians, third seed Carlos Salamanca and qualifier Nicolas Barrientos. The South African needs to find more breakpoint opportunities if he wishes to advance far in this
event.
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