Finn Reynolds and Roy Stepanov each got taken to deuce in their first service game at the ATP Challenger tournament in Bergamo, where they played the Dutch pair of Gijs Brouwer and Mats Hermans. There was a great short rally on the first of those deciding points, with Hermans’ final backhand volley flying over the baseline. Like Reynolds, Brouwers is left-handed, but he held serve slightly more easily before hitting a beautiful backhand return down the tramlines off Stepanov. His fabulous forehand return down the singles sideline took them to deuce, but a good serve from Stepanov saw his backhand return go into the net.
Hermans held safely as well, but was credited with an ace for a serve down the middle which clearly deflected off Stepanov’s racquet. Brouwers continued with the good returning, hitting a beautiful forehand down the tramlines off Reynolds, but games continued to go with serve. It was Brouwers who provided another highlight when he hit a fabulous forehand winner down the tramlines on the way to winning his third service game, but what was more important was his fabulous cross-court forehand winner, landing on the sideline, which gave his team break points against Stepanov. A forehand volley from the Israeli saved the first, and Brouwers overhit his forehand return of the second, but Stepanov lost the deciding point when he pushed an inside-out forehand too hard.
That meant Hermans could serve for the set and, apart from losing a great rally when he was forced to hit a backhand volley over the baseline, he cruised through the game, finishing by forced Reynolds to hit his backhand return of the last serve into the net. The set had taken 40 minutes.
Brouwers hit another fabulous forehand return down the tramlines when Reynolds served first in the second set, but that was the only point the New Zealander lost. Umpire Andrea Benvenuto must have been in a very “welcoming” mood as far as the Dutch pair were concerned, because he not only gave the ace that I wrote about earlier, but gave Brouwers one as well in the next game when any cricket fan would tell you that Stepanov had hit a nice cover drive!
Brouwers hit a forehand into the net to concede a deuce, but Stepanov was forced into a forehand error to lose the deciding point. He then conceded a deuce of his own when he hit a backhand volley wide, but Reynolds won the deciding point with a beautiful overhead volley. Hermans and Reynolds held again, the latter to love when his final serve was clearly long. Brouwers complained to the umpire, but he didn’t overrule the line judge’s call.
Brouwers again got taken to deuce when he served next, but this time it was because of a beautiful inside-out forehand return into the tramlines from Stepanov, and he aced Reynolds down the middle to win the deciding point. This time there was no argument from me that it actually was an ace. Hermans had been leaving all the highlights to his partner while studiously beavering away in the background, but he hit a beautiful backhand return off Stepanov in the next game. Stepanov’s forehand volley into the net then gave away break points and, although Hermans’ return of the next serve flew wide, Brouwers smacked a big forehand into Reynolds’ racquet to convert the second break point.
Hermans then had another comfortable hold, and that left Reynolds serving to keep his team in the match. He started with a double fault, but Hermans lost the incredible 12 shot rally which followed when forced to hit a forehand over the baseline. As if that wasn’t enough, the rally which followed three points later was the best of the match, and it went for 17 shots before Reynolds was forced to hit a forehand volley into the net. That gave away two match points, but he saved the first when Brouwers’ backhand return went into the net. Hermans got the deciding point back in play, and this time it was Reynolds who was the victim of a forced error when his backhand volley found the net as well. The final score was 7-5, 6-3, and the match took an hour and 13 minutes.