Yen-Hsun Lu registers victory against Joao Souza in opening round – PTT Thailand Open 2011
28-year-old Taiwanese veteran, Yen-Hsun-Lu, faced less trouble in disposing of the unseeded Brazilian, Joao Souza, in the opening round of the PTT Thailand Open on Tuesday afternoon.
Lu took just one hour and twenty minutes to wrap up victory in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, to make a spot in the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The Taiwanese displayed his brilliant tennis skills on the indoor hard courts of the Impact Arena, in Bangkok, Thailand and his victory improved his winning record to 12-19 for the current season. Souza played impressive tennis
in the competition and bettered his opponent in some segments of the game but was eventually beaten in the end.
The Brazilian failed to register a single serve break in the entire matchup, squandering away three vital chances to finish on the losing side. Lu broke his serve on three different occasions in the matchup and raced away to victory
in a convincing fashion.
Souza served brilliantly in the matchup, reaching 78 per cent accuracy and firing 11 aces. He clinched 28 first serve points and the Taiwanese closely followed him with 27 points to come out as the winner in the end. Lu broke his
opponent in the very first game of the match to lead 2-0 early and then consolidated his lead by nailing another break point conversion in the seventh game to lead 5-2. He served out of the set at 6-2 and got the upper hand in the contest without any difficulty.
Souza played more positive tennis in the following set and held his serve in the opening 10 games before he eventually dropped it in the 11th game to trail 5-6. Souza took the advantage once again and served out of the
matchup to record a convincing victory at 7-5, getting through to the second round of the tournament. A total of 120 points were played in the matchup, with Lu clinching 72 and Souza lagging far behind with merely 48 points.
Lu needs to overcome a much harder task in his next round clash, as he will go one-on-one with the world number 12, Gilles Simon of France, for a place in the quarter-final draw of the PTT Thailand Open. Simon is seeded at number
three in the tournament, getting a bye to the second round and will take off his campaign at Bangkok on Wednesday.
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