The pint-sized Belgian, David Goffin, continued his giant-killing act from last year as he rallied to upset compatriot and former champion Xavier Malisse in the first round of the Aircel Chennai Open, on Tuesday.
The wild-card despatched his senior countryman in three sets on Centre Court — the site of his shocking opening-round win over Somdev Devvarman in 2011 — as Malisse struggled to keep pace with his younger adversary. The 21-year-old, ranked 174, held his own against the seventh seed to emerge a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 winner.
Malisse, who appeared to be hampered by a physical ailment (an even popped in a pill as an corrective measure), gave in meekly in the latter half of the contest. The younger pro registered two breaks in the second set and a lone decisive one in the third set, to overcome the loss of the opener and set up a meeting with Germany's Andreas Beck in the second round.
Feeling good
Speaking later, Goffin was unsure of what was causing his compatriot discomfort. “I don't know. He was sick. Maybe he ate something bad yesterday
“It's never easy to beat him. He hits the ball really hard. When I was young, I used to be his fan. Now it feels good to defeat him. “I was surprised at how the crowd supported me. They were all like “Goffin, Goffin”. I really liked it and hope to have more of it.
Earlier, it was just as well that Victor Hanescu, the World No. 90 from Romania, didn't try out for cricket. Attempting to larrup the tennis ball with the willow after his straight-set win over American Sam Querrey, Hanescu failed to make contact every single time the linesman ‘bowled' him a dolly.
Clinical show
The thin crowd sat in disappointment for a ballooning sitter to descend into their hands, but would have been rather pleased at the clinical annihilation that Hanescu wreaked upon Querrey with the racquet, for a 6-3, 6-4 win in the first round.
The 6'6” Romanian deployed a solid baseline strategy to get past the equally gigantic Querrey in an hour and 16 minutes, as the American did himself no favours by negating his nine aces with eight double faults.
Hanescu broke Querry in the fourth game of the first set, as the World No. 93 sent down two double-faults in a game beset by errors, and stuck to his advantage to close out the opener 6-3 on serve.
Hanescu went up a break early in the second, for a lead of 2-1, as Querrey over-hit a backhand, but the American broke back to love in the eighth game to equalise at 4-4. But Hanescu wasn't quite done. He attained an immediate point to break back – connecting a forehand volley at full-stretch – and completed another crisp sojourn to the net in the next game to serve himself into the next round in an hour and 16 minutes on court. The Romanian will clash with fourth-seeded Milos Raonic in the next round.
One-sided affair
In another first round match, Japan's Yuichi Sugita, a qualifier ranked 235, upset eighth-seeded and 67th-ranked Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour and an half. The diminutive Japanese, playing against the comparably minuscule (if not tinier) Belgian, converted six of the seven break-points he held and saved four of the seven he conceded, to wrap up the one-sided affair on an outside court.
Sugita clinched the first set after overcoming a break in the opening game, and claimed the match following a solitary break in the second set — in the ninth game, to set up a second round meeting with Taipei's Lu Yen-hsun, who despatched qualifier Thiemo De Bakker of The Netherlands 6-3, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Somdev Devvarman's replacement in the main draw, ‘lucky loser' Edourad Roger-Vasselin of France put it across compatriot Eric Prodon in straight sets.
Vasselin doesn't have much time to rejoice his good fortune, as his next opponent will be the defending champion, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
The results: Singles: First round: Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra) bt Eric Prodon (Fra) 6-4, 6-3; Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) bt Olivier Rochus (Bel) 6-3, 6-4; Victor Hanescu (Rou) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 6-3, 6-4; Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) bt Thiemo de Bakker (Ned) 6-3, 6-3; Andreas Beck (Ger) bt Vasek Pospisil (Can) 6-3, 7-6(8); David Goffin (Bel) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Go Soeda (Jpn) bt Frederico Gil (Por) 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5.
Doubles: Nicolas Almagro (Esp) & Pere Riba (Esp) bt J. Knowle (Aut) & Michael Kohlmann (Ger) 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-4.
