Thomaz Bellucci, Marin Cilic advance to the third round – AEGON Championships 2011
Thomaz Bellucci ousts Marsel Ilhan 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-6(5)
World number 30 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil rallied past world number 112 Marsel Ilhan of Turkey in straight sets 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) in the second round of AEGON Championships at the Queen’s Club in London on Wednesday. The Brazilian needed two hours and 24 minutes to undo his opponent in a marathon match.
Bellucci broke his opponent twice in the first set to win it 6-2. The Brazilian served exceptionally well as he fired five aces and 84 percent of the first serves, claiming a whopping 88 percent of the points on them in the first set. The six feet and two inches tall converted two of the four break points he received on Ilhan’s serve and did not face any break point on his own serve in the opening set.
Bellucci and Ilhan exchanged a couple of breaks of serve in the first twelve games of the second set, taking it to a tie-break. Ilhan thrashed the Brazilian in the tie-break, clinching a couple of mini-breaks to bag it 7-3. The Turk hit four aces and the same number of double faults in the second set.
In a similar fashion to the first set, the second set was forced into a tie-break. However, this time Bellucci grabbed a single mini-break to claim it 7-5. The Brazilian won 65 percent of the second service points in the deciding set.
The Sao Paulo resident is slated to meet Marin Cilic in the round of 16.
Marin Cilic defeats Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4
World number 27 Marin Cilic of Croatia eased past world number 146 Arnaud Clement of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to proceed to the third round.
Cilic drew the first blood as he broke Clement in the opening game of the first set to take a 1-0 lead. The French responded quickly, breaking back immediately to level the score at 1-1. Clement broke the Croatian again in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. After that, Cilic captured five of the next six games, breaking the French in the fifth and ninth game to win the set 6-4. The six feet and six inches tall delivered six aces and 56 percent of the first serves, grabbing 68 percent of the points on them in the first set.
Unlike the first set, Cilic needed only a single break of serve in the second set to bag it 6-4. The Monte Carlo resident kept on bombarding his opponent with power serves, hitting five aces and winning an incredible 88 percent of the first service points in the second set. The 22-year-old captured one of the three break points he received on Clement’s serve in the second set. The match lasted for an hour and 29 minutes.
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