Yuichi Sugita outclasses James McGee in the second round – KEIO Challenger 2012
One of the home favourites, Yuichi Sugita, evaded late resistance to oust the world number 401, James McGee of Ireland, in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, in the second round of the KEIO Challenger in Yokohama, Japan on Wednesday.
The third seed required one hour and 33 minutes to score this win over his Irish opponent.
Sugita grabbed control of the contest from the start, breaking McGee in the very first game and then holding his following serve to attain a 2-0 lead. The Japanese participant struck again in the fifth game and consolidated on
it to stretch his advantage to 5-1. McGee could not fight back and went down 2-6.
Ranked 122nd in the world, Sugita hit a single ace and also made the same number of double fault. The 24-year-old put in 57 percent of the first serves and converted 10 of the 13 of them into points. The Japanese contestant
did not face any break point and converted two of the three he received in the opener.
McGee was up 40-15 in the first game of the second set but threw away both of his chances to lose his serve and go down 0-1. However, the Irish national managed to break back immediately this time to level the proceedings at 1-1.
It went smoothly in the next eight, evening out the score at 5-5. Sugita succeeded in striking at that moment and made the most of it to triumph 7-5.
The Japanese player did not impress with his serves, having quite average statistics. He could not hit any ace and committed one double fault. The right-hander put in merely 61 percent of the first deliveries and was able to win
just 22 of the 36 points on them. Though, Sugita did well to put away seven of the eight break threats he came across and utilised two of the seven opportunities he created in the second set.
In the quarter-finals, Sugita will lock horns with his fifth seeded compatriot, Hiroki Moriya. The Japanese contestant overcame the world number 580, Prakash Amritraj of India, in three sets in the second round.
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