Stanislas Wawrinka edges past Flavio Cipolla into the second round – French Open 2012
Swiss number two, Stanislas Wawrinka, fought back after losing two sets in a row, toppling Flavio Cipolla of Italy in five sets 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round of the French Open in Paris on Sunday.
Wawrinka drew the first blood of the contest, claiming a breakthrough in the fourth game of the first set and winning his following serve to go up 4-1. The Swiss did not allow Cipolla to stage a comeback and sealed it 6-3.
In the second set, the 27-year-old struck in the opening game and consolidated on it to take a 2-0 lead. The remaining part of the set saw five more breaks, with Wawrinka claiming three of them to win 6-3.
Cipolla bounced back in the third set, snatching a break in the very first game and holding his next serve to attain a 2-0 advantage. The Italian hit another blow in the fifth to stretch his lead to 4-1 but Wawrinka grabbed next
two, reducing it to 4-3. The rest of the set went with the serves and Cipolla captured it 6-4.
Both players started steadily in the fourth set, as they did not lose their serve in the opening four games and equalised the score at 2-2. Cipolla grabbed a break in the fifth and held his subsequent serve to move ahead 4-2. Serving
to stay in the set at 3-5, Wawrinka lost his serve again and went down 3-6.
The Swiss changed his strategy and started to play aggressively in the final set. He broke Cipolla in the first and third game, capitalising on both of them to race to a 4-0 lead. The 6ft tall allowed the Italian to win just a
couple of games in the entire set, closing it 6-2.
Wawrinka banged in four aces and committed the same number of double faults in the match. On the other hand, Cipolla hit a couple of aces and made 13 double faults. The Italian had a better first serve percentage than the Swiss
but fell behind in the conversion rate. The main difference between the two players was the number of winners they hit, as Cipolla kept it at just 31 compared to 55 by Wawrinka. The Swiss utilised eight of the 18 break opportunities he created and put away
six of the nine threats he came across.
The former top-10 player is slated to play Pablo Andujar of Spain in the second round.
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