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The world of tennis is packed with all kind of records, stats and achievements, and one of the rarest is the so-called Golden match. This elusive accomplishment is fulfilled when a player wins all 48 points of the match to topple the rival 6-0 6-0 and it probably happened only a few times in the recorded tennis history.
You don't have to be a passionate tennis lover to understand how hard is to realize this feat, with no room for errors from the first point until the very last, despite a huge lead you had already build. A player who chases the Golden match is not allowed to make a single mistake in the entire encounter, including double faults, poor returns or groundstrokes, which is extremely tough to do in almost 50 points.
When the difference between the competitors is that high one would expect to win as many points behind his serve as possible but one misjudged return could cost you a chance to grab the Golden match honor and this is why we almost never have a chance to see it in the professional tennis.
Well, never say never, as we had a genuine Golden match in the qualifications of the France F5 Futures in Poitiers, with an 18-year-old Dan Added beating Freddy Prioton 6- 6-0 in 30 minutes without losing a single point! Added was ranked in the Top 25 on the ITF junior list last year and he has been forging his pro career at Futures events in France, Germany and the Czech Republic, reaching the final at the Czech Republic F11 tournament last year in November.
Here at Poitiers he has played against a 34-year-old Freddy Prioton who tried to qualify for the main draw only for the second time in his career, performing at the same tournament two years ago. He was completely outplayed by the youngster, unable to do anything on both the serve and return and failing to win a single point in a 30-minute match! Added served at 54% and he was 13 from 13 on the first and 11 from 11 on the second serve, keeping the pressure on the other side of the net and playing as efficient on the return as well.
Prioton got only seven first serves in (seven double faults as well) and he was unable to hit at least one good serve that would give him a service winner or a chance to build a nice point and finish it with his stronger groundstroke (if he has any, of course).
The match lasted only 30 minutes and that tells us that Dan had the advantage in literally every single point, finishing his games with a lot of free points from his serve alone and imposing his shots with at least a decent return or a groundstroke that would dismantle a semi-amateur on the other side of the net.
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