Ruben Bemelmans thrashes Denis Gremelmayr in the first round – Hall of Fame Championships 2011
World number 147 Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium cruised past world number 97 Denis Gremelmayr of Germany in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round at the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport on Monday. The Belgian
took just an hour and five minutes to overpower his opponent in a one-sided contest.
Bemelmans took the lead straightaway as he broke the German in the first game of the opening set and held his serve in the next game to blaze forward to a 2-0 lead. The Belgian and Gremelmayr held their serve in next seven games
and took the score to 5-4 in favour of the former. Bemelmans served out the set in the tenth game, clinching it 6-4.
The Belgian did not serve well as he committed four double faults and hit just 45 percent of the first serves in the opening set. Bemelmans succeeded in converting a meagre 44 percent of the second serves into points in the first
set. In comparison, Gremelmayr delivered 59 percent of the first serves and a couple of aces in the opening set. The German failed to impress with his return of serve, grabbing a horrible seven percent of the first return points in the first set. The six feet
tall could not convert any of the two break points he received on Bemelmans’ serve and failed to save one of the five break points on his own serve in the opening set.
After taking a one set lead, Bemelmans came roaring into the second set as he captured first four games, breaking the German in the first and third game to grab a 4-0 lead. Gremelmayr avoided a bagel set, taking two successive
games to reduce the Belgian’s lead to 4-2. However, the German was broken again in the seventh game, losing the set 2-6.
Bemelmans kept his first serve percentage at 46 percent in the second set. The Belgian captured 62 percent of the first service points and 60 percent of the second service points in the second set. The left-hander troubled Gremelmayr
with his aggressive returns of serve, converting an incredible 62 percent of the first returns into points in the second set. Bemelmans converted three of the six break point opportunities he created on Gremelmayr’s serve and saved three of the four break
points on his own serve in the second set.
The Belgian is drawn to meet fifth seed Alex Bogomolov Jr. of USA in the second round.
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