By Anand Philar, IANS
Chennai : Defending champion Xavier Malisse of Belgium advanced to the second round of the $436,000 ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win over Gilles Muller of Luxumberg, here Monday.
Three breaks of serve, two in the second set, set up Mallise who scored a rare double here last year. Serving well on crucial points, the 27-year old Belgian, coming back from a long injury-forced layoff, had a wider range of shots that evoked weak response from Muller.
Muller, the 24-year old former World No.1 among juniors, contributed to his own downfall with a series of unforced errors and though he served well in patches, lacked the consistency to trouble his opponent.
As the match progressed and mistakes flowed from his racquet, Muller grew despondent and lost focus in the process. Towards close, he had little left in the tank as Malisse continued to play solid tennis to wrap up the match in little over an hour.
Malisse began well with a break of serve in the very first game and thereafter, seemed content to allow the games go with serve. Muller could not recover from the early reverse and found himself under pressure through the set with Malisse always a step quicker.
In the second set, Malisse came up with a crucial break of serve in the third game and another in the ninth to complete the rout.
“It feels good to start off with a win and certainly, it did a lot of good for my confidence. Fitness-wise, I do feel a little sore, but then overall, I felt pretty good about my game,” said Malisse.
About Muller, the Belgian said he was aware of his opponent’s huge first serve, but bided his chance to break.
“I know about Muller’s big first serve. That is part of his game. I knew I will get my chances and you have to take advantage of these opportunities. He served a few aces, but I managed to make the best of the chances that came my way,” he summed up.
On his unusual entry on to the centre court in an autorickshaw, Malisse said: “Well, it felt great and I enjoyed the ride. In a way, it made me think of last year (when he won both singles and doubles titles).”
He admitted that there was some pressure on him as a defending champion. “Of course, there was some pressure of defending my title, but like I said, it is a nice feeling to start off with a win,” he said.
Malisse said a torn tendon on the middle finger of his right hand did not trouble him in the least. “There was no pain or any discomfort,” he clarified.
In another match, sixth seed Jurgen Melzer (Austria) got past Paul Dapdeville (Chile) 6-2, 6-4, to also enter the second round.
Meanwhile, on the outside courts, Bangalore-born US-based Rajeev Ram qualified for the main draw defeating Harel Levy of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-1.
Also qualifying for the main draw were Alexandre Kudryavtsev (Russia) who beat compatriot Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-4, Lovro Zovko (Croatia), a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 winner over Kristian Pless (Denmark) and Alexander Peya (Austria) who overcame Stefano Galvani (Italy) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.