Richard Bloomfield battles past Rajeev Ram into the main draw – Hall of Fame Championship 2011
World number 332 Richard Bloomfield of Great Britain fought back after losing the first set to beat American Rajeev Ram in three sets 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-3 in the final qualifier at the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships
in Newport on Monday. The Brit needed two hours and 34 minutes to undo his opponent in a marathon encounter.
Ram drew the first blood as he broke the British in the third game of the first set and held his serve in the next game to take a 3-1 lead. Bloomfield fought back, breaking back in the eighth game to tie the score at 4-4. Ram and
Bloomfield held their serve in the next four games to equalise the score at 6-6 and force a tie-break. The American clinched a couple of mini-breaks in the tie-break, sealing it 7-4.
The 27-year-old hit 58 percent of the first serves and four aces in the opening set. Ram grabbed 65 percent of the first service points and 25 percent of the first return points in the first set. The American capitalised on one
of the five break point opportunities he created on Bloomfield’s serve and saved three of the four break points on his own serve in the opening set.
Bloomfield and Ram failed to create even a single break point opportunity in the second set and tied the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. The British thrashed Ram in the tie-break as he allowed the American to claim
just two points, winning the tie-break 7-2.
The right-handed had a below average first serve percentage as he managed to delivered a meagre 40 percent of the first serves in the second set. However, Bloomfield compensated that by firing four aces and converting an incredible
94 percent of the first serves into points in the second set.
Ram took an early lead in the third set as he broke the British in the opening game and held his serve in the next game to go ahead 2-0. However, Bloomfield bounced back once again and grabbed six of the next seven games, breaking
Ram twice and claiming the set 6-3.
The British kept his first serve percentage at 63 percent and hit three aces in the final set. The six feet and one inch tall put pressure on Ram’s serve throughout the deciding set, converting 100 percent of the second returns
into points in the third set.
Bloomfield will face world number 136 Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the opening round of the main draw.
Tags: