Simone Bolelli overpowers Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the qualifiers – Sud de France Open 2012
Seeded at number one in the qualifying draw, Simone Bolelli of Italy faced limited resistance from the unseeded local contestant, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, in the second round battle of the Sud de France Open on Sunday. The contest
lasted for one hour and 20 minutes, with the Italian competitor winning in straight set, 6-4, 6-4, to move one step closer to the main draws of the tournament.
Being a part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 swing, the contest was played on the indoor hard courts of the Arena Montpellier, France. Bolelli put up an amazing display of sheer dominance and class
to outplay his 20-year-old opponent in an assertive fashion. The Italian top seed took hold of the game right from the beginning and never let Herbert to have an impact on the match in the later stages.
Bolelli delivered 70 per cent of his first serve on target and secured 29 out of 40 points on it, while his opponent closely followed him with 24 out of 34 points. The Italian displayed far better tennis than Herbert, who was found
struggling on most occasions in the match. The Frenchman utterly failed to register a single break point in the entire contest, frittering away the only chance he got in the first set to remain at a disadvantage throughout.
The top seed got an early breakthrough in the third game of the match, nailing a cracking serve break to lead 2-1. Herbert assisted the Italian to maintain his lead in the contest with some unforced errors and sloppy stroke play.
Bolelli secured 15 out of 19 first serve points in the set and held his remaining serves to reach 6-4.
The Italian kept the momentum swinging in his favour in the next set as well and stung another vital break point conversion in the fifth game to inch closer to victory. No more serve breaks were seen in the match and Bolelli concluded
victory convincingly at 6-4.
The top seed needs just one more victory in the qualifying competition to book a spot in the main rounds of the Sud de France Open. Czech number one, Tomas Berdych is leading the competitive field in Montpellier, with home favourites,
Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet to follow him in the seeds. All of the top-four seeded players have been awarded a bye to get a direct access to the second round of the tournament and will need one win to have a spot in the quarter-finals.
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