Robin Haase, Julien Benneteau advance to the second round of Open de Nice Côte d’Azur
Robin Haase beats Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-4
Top Dutch Robin Haase, ranked 59th in the world, scored a convincing victory over world number 56 Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei in the first round of Open de Nice Côte d’Azur at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club in Nice on Tuesday.
Haase defeated the Taiwanese in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in just an hour and 24 minutes.
The Dutch broke Lu in the fourth game of the opening set and held his next service game to race to a 4-1 lead. Lu bounced back and won two consecutive games, breaking Haase in the seventh game and reducing his opponent’s lead to
4-3. However, the Dutch broke Lu again in the eighth game and served out the set at 5-3.
Haase fired two aces and 68 percent of the first serves in the opening set, claiming 88 percent of the points on them. The Dutch converted two of the eight break points on Lu’s serve in the first set.
Haase carried the winning momentum into the second set and broke the Taiwanese in the ninth game, grabbing the set 6-4.
The right-handed delivered three aces and 52 percent of the first serves in the second set. The 24-year-old captured 67 percent of the first service points in the second set. Haase saved one of the two break points on his own serve
and won two of the four break points on his opponent’s serve in the second set.
The Dutch will meet Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round. Stakhovsky defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round.
Julien Benneteau defeats Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(3), 6-2
World number 83 Julien Benneteau of France upset world number 29, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-2 to move to the second round. The match lasted for one hour and 35 minutes.
Benneteau and Baghdatis broke each other once in the first 12 games of the opening set to level the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. Benneteau dominated the tie-break, winning it 7-3.
The French delivered a single ace and 64 percent of the first deliveries in the first set. The 29-year-old capitalized on one of the two break points on Baghdatis’ serve in the opening set.
Benneteau thrashed Baghdatis in the second set as he allowed the Cypriot to win just two games, claiming the set 6-2.
The six feet and one inch tall kept his first serve percentage at 77 percent and bagged 75 percent of the points on the first serve in the second set. The French saved the only break point he faced and clinched both break points
on the Cypriot’s serve in the second set.
Benneteau will take on Pablo Andujar of Spain in the round of 16.
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