Yuichi Sugita downs Yasutaka Uchiyama to qualify for the main draw – Thailand Open 2012
Japan’s second seeded player, Yuichi Sugita, succeeded in qualifying for the main draw of an ATP World Tour event for just the second time in this season by beating his compatriot, Yasutaka Uchiyama, in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in
the final qualifier of the Thailand Open in Bangkok. Sugita required just an hour and 17 minutes to topple his opponent.
The match saw a happening start, as both players struck in the first two games and levelled the score at 1-1. The following two went with serves, taking the proceedings to 2-2. It was an all Sugita show after that, as he grabbed
four games in a row to close it 6-2.
Both players served quite averagely, failing to hit any ace and committing one double fault in the first set. However, Sugita’s first serve percentage and conversion rate was better than his opponent. The higher ranked Japanese
player put in 57 percent of the first serves and won 10 of the 16 points on them. In comparison, Uchiyama could manage to hit just 44 percent of the first deliveries and converted merely five of the 11 of them into points.
Start of second set was steadier as compared to the first, as none of the two players allowed the other to break serve in the opening four games this time, equalising the score at 2-2. Sugita hit a blow to his countryman in the
fifth and consolidated on it to go up 4-2. The Japanese player did not allow Uchiyama to comeback and grabbed it 6-4.
Sugita neither hit any ace nor made any double fault in the second set. The 24-year-old improved his other serve statistics, keeping his first delivery percentage at 70 and clinching 15 of the 19 points on them. The Japanese contestant
could not impress on the returns, as he secured just four of the 16 first and two of the seven second reply points. The right-hander did not provide any break opportunity to Uchiyama and utilised the only chance he created.
The Japanese contestant will lock horns with the seventh seed, Jarkko Nieminen, in the first round of the main draw.
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