Sam Querrey topples Alex Bogomolov in the opening round – Hall of Fame Tennis Championships 2012
World number 55, Sam Querrey of USA, stunned Russia’s fifth seeded player, Alex Bogomolov Jr., in straight sets 7-5, 7-6(5) in the first round of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, USA on Tuesday. It took
Querrey an hour and 35 minutes to beat his Russian opponent in an evenly contested match.
Querrey and Bogomolov served superbly in the first 10 games and equalized the score at 5-5. The American snatched a break in the 11th and made the most of it to triumph 7-5.
The Las Vegas, USA, resident made his opponent’s life difficult with his missile like first serves, as he won 15 of the 17 points on them including six aces. Querrey also did a good job on his second deliveries, converting 10 of
the 15 of them into points. In comparison, Bogomolov hit a single ace and committed the same number of double fault. The Russian could not create any break opportunity on his opponent’s serve and failed to save one of the two threats he came across in the
opener.
In the second set, Querrey and Bogomolov served even better, as they did not lose their serve even once, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. The American contestant and his Russian rival fought closely in the opening
10 points, going neck to neck 5-5 but Querrey captured the last two, clinching it 7-6(5).
The 24-year-old almost matched his aces performance of first set, as he managed to pound five of them but he also made three double faults this time. Querrey maintained a first serve percentage of 59 and captured 18 of the 23 points
on them. The American did not face any break point and saved the two he received in the second set.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Querrey said, “It just feels nice to get a win. Bogie is a tough guy. He makes you play a lot of balls. I thought I served well when it counted on the big points.”
The American added, “In April this year, I feel like I found my game again. I felt I was playing at a Top 20 or Top 30 level even though I wasn’t ranked that high.”
Querrey is slated to face the world number 115, Dudi Sela of Israel, in the second round. Sela defeated Canada’s Frank Dancevic in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 in the opener.
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