Ryan Sweeting dismisses Somdev Devvarman from the 1st Round – Farmers Classic 2011
Farmers Classic was off to a flying start when American Ryan Sweeting succinctly dismissed his Indian opponent in an effective two set victory in the first match of the main draws played at the Straus Stadium of University College of Los Angeles (UCLA). Farmers Classic is famous for being the oldest and most revered annual athletic event in the state and is certain to draw in huge crowds. Sweeting is now securely anchored in the second round of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament, for a successive third time in his career.
Currently ranked at his highest No. 65, the American has had a successful year so far; he bagged his maiden ATP title at US Men's Clay Court Championship in April and his win-loss mark stands at an impressive 11-12. Sweeting played at Wimbledon till the second round, where he lost in a three set match against Rafael Nadal. His Indian opponent is currently ranked at No. 62, after a swift climb from No. 110 in the beginning of the year. Devvarman’s win-loss mark stands at an enviable 17-15 for the year and he has been performing superbly in his recent matches. Devvarman reached the quarterfinals at Newport last week where he lost the match to Mardy Fish.
The two contenders last met at Newport in a first round match which Devvarman won effortlessly. Sweeting hence avenged his defeat this Tuesday and their head-to-head ranking now stand levelled at 1-1.
In the thrilling one hour fifty two minutes closely contested match, Sweeting prevailed mostly by winning a greater number of breakpoints. Despite serving at a lowly 59% in the first set, Sweeting won two more first and second serve points combined than his opponent’s 13. Devvarman was able to save only 1 of the 3 brutal serve breaks while Sweeting saved 50% of the breakpoint scenarios that he faced. The second set, the longer and more excruciating of the two sets was an intense bout of play between the two players. Both the players registered three breakpoints each, which would have been enough to finish of either of the two players but they trudged forward. Sweeting made up for his 5 double faults by winning 15 of his 27 first serve points. The set eventually was decided by a tie break, which was won by Sweeting despite Devvarman trying his best to gain 6 points against Sweeting’s 8.
Sweeting will now face the winner of the match between Fernando Gonzalez and eighth seed Igor Kunitsyn in his second round match of the tournament.
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