Once again TomBs and SoundfSilence were up for what was to become another epic match. It was a battle between two baseline players, Jim Doe (TomBs) and Carlos Moya (SoundfSilence). The odds were good for Carlos Moya as the experienced Spaniard wasn't expected to have much trouble with the rookie Dutchman.
And indeed, nothing seemed to stop Carlos Moya from gaining an easy victory in tonight's best-of-5 match. Despite facing two breakpoints in the opening game Moya dominated from the baseline and easily took the first set, downgrading his struggling opponent 6-0.
1st set statistics:
The second set was almost a copy of the first set as Moya rushed to a 5-0 lead. Poor Jim Doe then totally switched his gamestyle around by playing serve&volley. Despite having a weak serve and weak volleys the Dutchman booked minor success by winning his first game using that tactic. Moya wasn't all too impressed though and finished the second set with a decent service game: 6-1.
2nd set statistics:
With half of the crowd already sleeping Jim Doe did find confidence out of his won service game. By playing serve&volley he managed to bring some life to the so far one-sided match. Moya was clearly surprised as Doe pushed on to stun the awake part of the crowd by breaking through the Spaniard's serve. That did however result in Doe realizing he could take a set, after which he delivered a poor service game only to get broken back immediately. Doe did hang on to the tiebreak, but in it he immediately lost his service point. However he managed to get it back straight away by taking initiative in the next rally with a well-placed return. Both players then hang on to a few service points before it was Moya to make a difference. The Spaniard took one minibreak and was serving for the match at 6-4. A return passing shot, as Moya decided to serve&volley, from Doe meant 6-5, and the next point will be remembered for a long time. Doe once again followed his service to the net, but had to make a full-stretch save on Moya's return. The Dutchman remained in the defense at the net, with Moya hitting one powerful shot after another. Doe refused to surrender and in the end managed to hit a volley winner. 6-6 and everything was possible once again. Doe took the next point to gain a setpoint, but Moya swept it away. On the next point it was Doe to hit a good return to get himself into the rally. He didn't give away initiative and went on to take the minibreak and consecutively the 3th set, 7-6(7).
3rd set statistics:
Everyone in the stands had woken up and were hoping for another great set. Moya easily took his first service game, and took a big step to victory by breaking through Doe's service. Once again Doe didn't surrender and he fought his way to several breakpoints. However he didn't manage to convert one, and Moya wasn't broken as he went on to take a 5-3 lead. The match was almost in the bag as the Spaniard took a 40-15 lead. But tough rookie Doe kept entertaining the crowd by working those away too. Moya kept his head cool, and despite screwing up another four matchpoints and facing a breakpoint he held on to his serve to win the match 6-0 6-1 6-7(7) 6-3.
Match statistics:
