Stephane Robert bids farewell to Dusan Lojda in the second round – Trnava Challenger 2012 CH
Ranked 276th in the South African ATP World Tour Rankings, Stephane Robert gave a straight sets shocker to the Czech native, Dusan Lojda at the Trnava Challenger 2012 on his home ground.
The French challenger summed up his outstanding triumph, 6-2, 6-1 in a nearly 53 minutes.
The 32-year-old, Robert held his first serve in the opener set and confidently secured the lead, breaking his opponent’s serve in the fourth game. Lojda was unable to face the pressure of his opponent and hence
could not secure any point. He dropped his serve towards the end and concluded the set with a 2-6 loss.
The Czech professional double faulted four times at the critical moments in the set and exhibited 72 percent initial serve presentation. He won 11 of 18 first serve points and from the two serve break he managed
to secure just one. On the contrary, Robert had a below average initial serve of 43 percent but he pocketed away eight of 10 first and eight of 13 second serve points.
In the second set, 32-year-old French challenger confidently commenced and did not face even a single break in the series. He busted his rival’s serve in the fourth and the sixth game respectively. The left-hander
Czech seemed helpless in front of his opponent’s powerful ground strokes and miserably lost the set with a 1-6 loss.
The French veteran displayed 43 percent initial serve accuracy with seven of 10 first and 10 of 13 second delivery points. From the three serve breaks presented, he capitalized on two, whereas his rival could
not attain any. The Czech professional attained 68 first serve but unfortunately he could only pocket away six of 13 first and two of six second delivery points.
In the next match Robert will face a tough combat by the third seeded, Joao Sousa. Previously the Portuguese challenger summed his remarkable win against the Spanish, Ivan Navarro. He will surely give his competitor
a rough time.
The Frenchman’s performance has surely declined than before. He could not contest beyond the first round of Todi Challenger and after a tough battle, he wrapped up the match with a 7(6)-6, 3-6, 3-6 loss against
the Italian Paolo Lorenzi.
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