Yen-Hsun Lu prevails over Matthias Bachinger in opening round – Atlanta Tennis Championships 2011
World number 85 Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei outlasted world number 87 Matthias Bachinger of Germany in straight sets 7-5, 7-6(4) in the first round of Atlanta Tennis Championships at Racquet Club of the South in Atlanta on Tuesday.
The Taiwanese took an hour and 45 minutes to undo his opponent in an evenly contested encounter.
Bachinger was first to take lead, breaking the Taiwanese in the fourth game to grab a 3-1 lead. Lu broke back in the seventh game and won his next service game to level the score at 4-4. The Taiwanese broke again in the eleventh
game and served out the set at 6-5.
Lu was lucky to win the set despite serving poorly. The Taiwanese failed to hit any ace, committing three double faults and hitting just 57 percent of the first serves in the first set. The Taipei resident failed to save the one
break point he faced on his own serve but succeeded in converting both break points he received on Bachinger’s serve in the opening set.
The Taiwanese and Bachinger exchanged two breaks of serve in the second set and levelled the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. Lu captured a single mini-break in the tie-break and claimed it 7-4.
The six feet and two inches tall grabbed thirteen of the seventeen first service points and nine of the 27 first return points in the second set.
With this win, Lu improved his win/loss record to 8-15 in 2011. The Taiwanese failed to win any match at the first six tournaments he played this year. He won his first match of the year during the Davis Cup tie against China,
beating Mao-Xin Gong in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. The right-handed defeated former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round at the BNP Paribas Open. However, he lost to Ernests Gulbis in three thrilling sets
7-6(1), 6-7(7), 1-6 in the round of 64.
His best performance of the season came at the Wimbledon Championships. The Taiwanese upset Spaniard Tommy Robredo and Serbian Victor Troicki, ranked 12th at that time, in the first and second round respectively. Lu
failed to move further in the draw as he lost to Michael Llodra of France in straight sets 3-6, 3-6, 1-6 in the round of 32.
Lu is slated to face qualifier Marinko Matosevic of Australia in the second round. The Australian overcame Russian Igor Kunitsyn in three sets 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5 in the first round.
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