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10/28/09 7:01 PM | Ricky Dimon
Paul-Henri Mathieu beats Leonardo Mayer in straight sets on Wednesday afternoon in Lyon. He is joined in the second round by Nicolas Kiefer, a three-set winner over Sebastien Grosjean.
(6) Paul-Henri Mathieu d. Leonardo Mayer 7-6(5), 6-2
Mathieu survived a serving barrage by Mayer to reach the second round of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon on Wednesday afternoon. The No. 6 seed needed one hour and 30 minutes to set up a meeting with fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel. For a while, however, it looked like things would be more difficult for Mathieu. The two competitors exchanged one break of serve each during the first set en route to a tiebreaker, which Mathieu just barely pulled out seven points to five.
Both men took care of their first two respective service games in the second frame of play, but it was all over when Mayer got broken at 2-2. The Argentine went away quietly thereafter, surrendering serve again at 2-4 while winning a mere three points on return in the entire set. Mathieu, far more solid than his opponent from the baseline, withstood 18 aces from Mayer. The world No. 33 fired seven aces of his own without double-faulting once.
Nicolas Kiefer d. (WC) Sebastien Grosjean 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(2)
In a back-and-forth thriller between two old rivals, Kiefer overcame Grosjean after two hours and 27 minutes on Wednesday evening in Lyon. After breaking serve at 5-4 in the first set, Grosjean had two match points at the same stage of set two, but Kiefer saved both with big first serves. The 32-year-old German eventually leveled the proceedings at one set apiece, but not before he squandered two set points on his own serve at 6-3 and 6-4 in the tiebreaker, and another on his opponent's serve at 6-5. Kiefer finally took the 'breaker nine points to seven, thus forcing a decisive third frame of play.
This time it was Grosjean's turn to save match points. He thwarted one while serving at 4-5 and another at 5-6. The 31-year-old Frenchman, however, promptly gave Kiefer sixtuple match point in the final tiebreaker by winning none of the first six points. Grosjean saved two more match points, but Kiefer finished it off at 6-2 with a clean backhand winner. Kiefer, who improves to 4-4 lifetime against his fellow veteran, blasted 20 aces while double-faulting seven times. Grosjean wrapped up his fight with 17 aces and three doubles. Next up for Kiefer is No. 3 seed Ivan Ljubicic.
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