Scott Griekspoor rallies past Tonny Koernap into the second qualifier – Health City Open 2012 CH
Netherland’s Scott Griekspoor fought back strongly after getting upset in the second set to down his compatriot, Tonny Koernap, 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-0 in the first round of the qualifying draw at the Health City Open in Scheveningen,
the Netherlands on Saturday. It took the Dutch player an hour and 19 minutes to throw his countryman out of the competition.
Griekspoor and Koernap held their serve in the first two games of the match, levelling the score at 1-1. It was an all Griekspoor show afterwards, as he did not allow his opponent to win even a single game till the end. He broke
Koernap three times and grabbed five in a row to capture it 6-1.
The 21-year-old, Griekspoor, neither hit an ace nor committed a double fault in the first set. He had a poor first serve percentage of 33 but the good thing was that he won all the five points on them. The Dutch player also bagged
seven of the 10 points on the second deliveries. He converted four of the nine first and 10 of the 15 second returns into points.
Griekspoor and Koernap started the second set by winning their serve in the opening four games and squaring off the score at 2-2. Koernap hit a blow to his countryman in the fifth and consolidated on it to move ahead 4-2. However,
the Dutch contestant failed to hold when he served for the set at 5-4 and evened out the proceedings at 5-5. Both players won each of the next two and took it to a tie-breaker. Koernap displayed a stunning game of tennis later on, as he hit five winners and
grabbed it 7-6(1).
The Dutchman had mixed statistics on serve, as he hit a single ace and committed three double faults. Koernap put in just 31 percent of the first deliveries, winning 10 of the 14 points on them. He took complete advantage of his
opponent’s weak second serves, claiming nine of the 14. The Dutch contender amazingly saved five of the six break points he faced and converted one of the two he received in the second set.
Griekspoor raised the level of his game and looked like a fully different player in the decider, as he did allow Koernap to win even a single game in the entire set. The Dutch player broke his compatriot three times and consolidated
on all of them to win 6-0.
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