2011 Heineken Open: David Nalbandian cruises past Fabio Fognini in the opener
Former world number three and sixth seed David Nalbandian has made his way into the second round of the 2011 Heineken Open Men’s singles tournament on Tuesday. The Argentinean got the better of Fabio Fognini in two sets. The final match score was 7-6, 6-4.
The battle concluded in a time period of one hour and forty nine minutes.
"It was very tough, a little windy so the conditions were not easy for us. The first match of the year is never easy, I came here last year and could not play through injury so I missed the tournament very much and I am happy to be back again this year,”
reflected Nalbandian after his victory.
The Argentinean last year pulled out of the event as a result of his injury.
Both the contenders played some wonderful tennis in today’s match before Nalbandian eventually emerged victorious in the end.
The opening set was tight as both the players fought well however Nalbandian did well to quickly take a lead of 3-0. He however failed to further continue that lead as his opponent within no time leveled the score at 2-2. Fognini afterwards played some great
tennis and thus made things harder for the Argentinean who still managed to win the set in the end at 7-3.
In the decisive set, Nalbandian after being up at 2-1 did not let his Italian opponent to bounce back at any stage of the game. Fognini had a couple of chances all through the second set however he failed to utilize them and as a result Nalbandian cruised
into the second round.
Meanwhile, Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil also posted a three setter victory over Michael Russell earlier in the day. The final score line was 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. The match was stretched to a time period of two hours and forty eight minutes.
By virtue of this win, the Brazilian will next take on Tommy Robredo in round two.
Top seed David Ferrer along with Albert Montanes, Nicolas Almagro and John Isner will start their tournament’s campaign on Wednesday after receiving a first round bye into the competition.
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