Fuente : Wimbledon
http://www.wimbledon.org

WIMBLEDON: Coria Cruises Past Behrend

/noticias.info/ Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Guillermo Coria did not have to spend much energy or effort in his first round match against the unseeded German, Tomas Behrend. The No.15 seed finished with an impressive straight sets victory, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.

The fate of the match seemed sealed from the first set which Coria took with ease and finesse. The Argentine, whose love for clay courts is stronger then grass, gave a skilful performance, making his opponent's game look tardy and lacklustre.

He opened the first game with a cracking ace and was soon in full flow, breaking Behrend in the fourth game. The German, who looked more comfortable playing a baseline game, was never allowed to settle in.

Coria served hard and sent in aces at 125mph. He then quickly shifted gears to rely on crosscourt forehands. And just when the German began to return the forehands, Coria uncoiled his backhands. Behrend was outmatched and in disarray. He missed reaching drop shots and even netted a couple of lofty dollies.

Coria, meanwhile, was on song. He quickly cashed in on break points and neatly wrapped up the first set 6-1 inside 20 minutes.

The 5ft 9in Argentine, who enjoys the distinction of being only the third player in the world after No. 1 seed Roger Federer and No. 2 Andy Roddick to have reached finals on clay, grass and hard courts during a single season, looked only too eager to finish the match.

He started the second set with more aces and peppered his play with an even greater variety of shots. Soon he was cruising to break points and converting them. Behrend then briefly got into his baseline game and tried to stall Coria's onslaught. In the third and fourth game he even made Coria commit a couple of unforced errors and miss some easily reachable forehands. But that proved to be only a brief moment of respite for Behrend as Coria regained his composure and closed the second set with a 6-2 win.

A clearly dejected Behrend conceded the third set 6-2 in 24 minutes.

Written by Sajid Shaikh


Court 3 - Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Round
Guillermo Coria ARG (15) 6 6 6
Tomas Behrend GER 1 2 2 notas_de_prensa_archivo