Roberto Bautista-Agut upsets Nicolas Mahut in quarterfinal - Open De Rennes 2011 CH
Fifth seeded 29-year-old French Nicolas Mahut lost to unseeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut in the quarterfinal of the Open De Rennes 2011. Both the challengers combated on indoor hard courts in Rennes, France and emerging victorious
after a few hours was the Spaniard world number 180 (Bautista-Agut) in straight sets of 6-4, 7-5 on Friday, the 14th of October.
The two players had met four times prior to this event and the head-to-head was tied at 2-2. Meeting for the fifth time and initiating the first round of the match was Mahut. Both the players were extremely competitive and matched
a blow for a blow from the very start of the game as they held serve for the first two games.
The scoreboard again progressed on even terms for the following four games and by the end of the sixth game the score had levelled at 3-3 and then at 4-4. It was in the ninth game that Mahut came under pressure and as he hit a
backhand shot he erred, endorsing a pivotal breakpoint to his adversary. Bautista-Agut on the other hand, capitalized on the only breakpoint and by holding his serve in the tenth game he squandered off with a 6-4 victory of the opening set.
Inaugurating the second round of the match was again Mahut and once again the players not only held their serves in the first two games but also matched a blow for a blow. The toe-to-toe run between the two carried well into the
second set and the scoreboard had rotated to a 2-2 at the end of the fourth game.
The score progressed on even terms at 3-3 and then at 4-4 as the players continued to hold their serves and by the end of the tenth game the score had finally tied at 5-5. The pressure kept building on Mahut but sadly in the eleventh
game he double faulted on his second serve and endorsed the match point to Bautista-Agut, who sealed his victory of the second set and the match.
The unseeded Espanola not only upset his challenger in straight sets but also managed to lead the head-to-head score with a 3-2 and was successful in reserving a spot in the semi-final of the sixth edition of the tournament which
is part of the ATP Challenger Tour 2011, where he will be facing the third seeded Julien Benneteau.
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