Tomas Berdych dismisses Romain Jouan in the first round – US Open 2011
Ninth seed Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic qualified for the round of 64 as he ousted French qualifier Romain Jouan, ranked 230th in the world, in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-1 in the opening round of US Open at the
Flushing Meadows in New York on Monday. The Czech took an hour and 56 minutes to undo his opponent in a one-sided match.
Berdych came roaring into the match and made a great start as he broke the French in the first and third game of the first set, winning both of his first two service game to build a 4-0 lead. The Czech maintained the double break
advantage throughout the set, serving it out at 5-2.
The right-handed smacked one ace and 65 percent of the first deliveries, winning a whopping eleven of the thirteen points on them in the opening set. Berdych hit ten winners but also committed eight unforced errors in the first
set. The Czech played brilliantly at the net as he captured all the six net approach points. Berdych sealed thirteen of the 27 first return points and capitalised on two of the three break point opportunities he created on Jouan’s serve in the opening set.
The French drew the first blood in the second set, breaking Berdych in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead but he failed to capitalise on the break of serve, losing his serve in the seventh game to take the score to 4-3. Jouan and
the Czech held their serve in the next five games to take the score to 6-6, forcing a tie-break. Berdych hit a couple of powerful fore-hand winners to claim two mini-breaks and capitalised on them to win the tie-break 7-4.
The Czech gave a little lacklustre performance as he committed three double faults and made seventeen unforced errors in the second set. However, the six feet and five inches tall survived as he managed to win one of the four break
points in the second set.
After the meltdown in the second set, Berdych regained his form in the third set, breaking the French in the second game and holding his serve in the next game to blaze forward to a 3-0 lead. The Czech broke again in the sixth
game and consolidate don it to win the set 6-1.
Berdych is drawn to play Fabio Fognini of Italy in the second round. The Italian beat Argentinean Horacio Zeballos in four sets 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the first round.
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