Thiemo de Bakker destroys compatriot Boy Westerhof in opening round – Tean International 2011 CH
Thiemo de Bakker, Dutch, stepped up to play against fellow countryman, wildcard entrant Boy Westerhof as the two met for the opening round match at the Alphen challenger on Tuesday, 7th September at Alphense Tennis Club, Netherlands.
The two battled it out for just a minute over an hour before Bakker cleared the court winning 6-4, 6-3.
Playing each other for the first time, it came as no surprise to anyone when the higher ranked Dutch went flying into the next round. The local crowd equally supported the pair though de Bakker perhaps enjoyed a tad more favour
from the spectators.
Winning the toss, Westerhof opened serve though he failed to find his footing. Coming out firing from the very first game, de Bakker clinched an easy breakpoint in the first game to put himself on the scoreboard. Holding his serve
in the second game, de Bakker was able to lead the set 2-0. From there on even though Westerhof managed to hold his own serve, it was to no avail. Riding the single breakpoint opportunity, de Bakker was able to close out the set with an easy 6-4 victory.
Hitting half the number of double faults and almost three times the number of aces, de Bakker recorded a resounding 85 percent on his first serve as he went one up in the first set.
Down and almost out, Westerhof found no footing in the second set. Though he started off on a strong note holding his own serve and keeping the score tied for the first four games, his defence soon fell through. Breaking Westerhof
and holding his own de Bakker was able to go 4-2 in the score. A successful hold of serve from the pair took the score to 5-3. Receiving in the ninth game, de Bakker increased his onslaught of the poor lower ranked compatriot. Clinching four straight points,
de Bakker was able to break his opponent and secure a 6-3 win, sealing his straight sets victory.
With no double faults and three aces, de Bakker upped his winning percentage to 92 percent as he successfully converted two of three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to seal his victory.
De Bakker now moves on ahead to play 46th ranked Kazakh, Evgeny Korolev. Unseeded at the event, Korolev moved on ahead at the event after doing away Frenchman Laurent Rochette in straight sets. Taking only forty eight
minutes, Korolev had secured a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Frenchman.
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