There were 117 points in the first set when George Stoupe played Luis Carlos Alvarez Valdes in Norman this morning, so it’s not surprising that that set alone lasted longer than all except two of the completed matches at the venue. Stoupe held serve comfortably to start, but there were five deuces in the second game, and Stoupe had five break points, starting from 15-40, before Alvarez Valdes was finally able to win the game. Stoupe had to save break points of his own in the fifth and seventh games, but got the first break when Alvarez Valdes served again. This time there were six deuces, Stoupe completing the break at the fourth time of asking after the Mexican player had had game points after the first three deuces. Stoupe then lost his serve to give the break straight back, and the remaining games went with serve.
The tie-break was messy as, after the first three points, neither player could win both their serves until the very end. Alvarez Valdes got the early jump, but that started a sequence of eight points in which only one went to the server. It was Stoupe who managed to hold, and that gave him a set point on his own serve as they came to the second change of ends, but he wasn’t able to convert it. He ended up with four set points altogether, but it was Alvarez Valdes who eventually came out on top by winning both his final points and then breaking Stoupe’s serve. The set had taken an hour and 45 minutes.
That effort seemed to drain Stoupe, as Alvarez Valdes won the first five games in the second set. All was not what it seemed, though, as the second game put anything in the first set in the shade. Alvarez Valdes won the first three points to be up 40-0 – and ended up having to survive nine deuces, and four break points, before eventually converting his eighth game point. Stoupe held serve in the sixth game to prevent the bagel, but could only win one point as Alvarez Valdes served out the match after two hours and 36 minutes.