Jiri Vesely, who dispatched of rising star earlier Dominic Thiem this week, has continued to impress. The Czech complemetly dominated on Court 1 at The Championships, blowing Joao Sousa off the court, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5.
Vesely too powerful for Sousa
Vesely broke serve immediately, taking advantage of some unforced errors and a double fault from Sousa. The Czech then held to love, sealing his service game with an ace. Vesely, who stands at 6’6, was hitting powerful groundstrokes with ease right from the start of the match, overwhelming his Portuguese opponent. He then broke once again and consolidated that break, getting off to a perfect start at 4-0.
Sousa got himself on the board for the first time, forcing some errors from the Czech, but Vesely continued to strike the ball perfectly which put him just one game away from the first set in 19 minutes. Sousa couldn’t do much about Vesely’s power, but he began to construct some points well to wrap up his service game, despite still being two breaks behind.
It wasn’t long before Vesely had his first set point, but for the first time in the match so far, he was taken to deuce when trying to serve it out. Sousa had a break point, but a firing ace saved it. On his second set point, a strong serve out wide and a smash captured the first set. A major differentiator in this first set was second serve points won, where Vesely was with 80%, but Sousa with just 27%.
Sousa still unable to find a solution
The trend continued as more powerful hitting put Vesely up a break straight away in the second set, resulting in some frustrated shouts from Sousa. A spectacular passing shot from the Czech and two aces in the same game consolidated the break, but a solid service game got Sousa on the board, 1-2.
Vesely was reading the Portuguese incredibly well and remained a step ahead of his shots, completely pushing Sousa to his limits. He held serve and broke once more, leading 4-1 in the second set. Sousa was unable to read Vesely’s huge serves and was being dragged around the court. In total control, Vesely served out the second set to lead 6-2, 6-2, in just 53 minutes. In the second set, Vesely won 100% of first serve points and hit just 4 unforced errors, so it was an almost flawless performance.
More competitive final set
Sousa, despite being stretched to 30-30, was able to hold serve at the start of the third set, unlike the previous two. Vesely followed the lead, holding serve for 1-1, although he was able to do it to love. Sousa had a better service game next, being able to move Vesely around the court a little better and serving well. He sealed the game with an ace and at 2-1, he was in front in a set for the first time.
Proceedings continued to go on serve in this third set, as Sousa picked up his level by forcing Vesely out wide a few times, forcing the errors. The Czech remained incredibly solid on serve, hitting strong, unpredictable serves to level up at 3-3. A superb dropshot from Vesely marked how high his confidence was, but Sousa held on to remain in front, 4-3. As the Czech’s level dropped, Sousa’s was raised, which kept things firmly on serve and a lot more competitive than in the first two sets of this encounter.
Vesely hit a fabulous cross court forehand at 5-5, and an unforced error from Sousa gave the Czech the break and the opportunity to serve for the match. Finishing with an ace, Vesely took the game, set and match to earn his place in the fourth round, where he will face compatriot Tomas Berdych.