Nicolai Budkov Kjaer beat Yanis Ghazouani Durand 6-1, 7-6 in Cassis, France, taking control with his return: he converted six break points across the match to his opponent's three. Ghazouani Durand's serve was the difference early, with just 52% first serves in and eight double faults over the two sets.
The first set was one-way traffic: Budkov Kjaer broke in game three at 2-1, again in game five at 4-1 and once more at 6-1 to close it out, winning six games in a row. In the second he broke for 2-0 and 5-1, but then lost his own serve three times, at 5-2, 5-4 and 5-6, before breaking back at 6-6 and taking the set in the tie-break.
The tell-tale number is the second serve: Budkov Kjaer won 21 of 29 second-serve return points (72%), while Ghazouani Durand claimed only 8 of 29 points behind his own second delivery. Even so, the Frenchman actually shaded the second set on service points won, 21 to 17, which is why the closing stretch was so tight.