Romain Jouan, Morgan Phillips clinch main draw berths – Madrid Challenger 2011
French tennis pro Romain Jouan secured an impressive 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain on Sunday to book his place in the main draw of 2011 Madrid Challenger in Spain. The number one seed Jouan looked in
terrific in a match that lasted for only 1 hour and 32 minutes on the red clay courts of Madrid.
Juan made an aggressive start to the contest as he broke his opponent in the very first game of the opening set. Holding on to his service games with ease; he looked to be in his comfort zone when serving. Saving all break points
against himself in the match, he also had a strong and formidable defence. Converting two out two break points, he made most of the available opportunities.
Dashing a lovely forehand winner down the line, he took a handsome 4-1 lead. Baena managed to hold only a couple of his service games as he gifted the opening set to his opponent. Making a large number of unforced errors, he really
did not help himself.
Ranked 224th in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, Jouan displayed some high quality tennis in the following set as well. Using the hit and volley technique very effectively, he managed to hold on to his
service games quite comfortably. Baena also raised the level of his game play and he pocketed six straight service games to force the set into a tie-breaker.
However, in the tie-breaker, the Spaniard was unable to control his nerves as he started to leak crucial points. Jouan fired a blistering serve ace to set up two match points for himself and then converted the first one to seal
a thumping straight sets victory.
In another match number eight seed Morgan Phillips of Great Britain defeated Ilya Belyaev of Russia in three tight sets 6-4,3-6, 6-3 to reach the main draw.
Phillips had a very bright start to the match. Breaking the serve twice early on, he pocketed the opening in a blink of an eye. However, he lost the track completely in second set. Belyaev, who looked out of sorts in the opener,
did a marvellous job to force the match into a tie-breaker. Showing great temperament and determination, he managed to shift the balance of the match.
Phillips regrouped himself and he inflicted heavy blows in the final set. Breaking the serve once, he took a crucial 5-3 lead to serve out the match. Placing a great passing shot, he closed out the contest that lasted for 2 hours
and 8 minutes.
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