2011 Heineken Open: Fifth seed Juan Monaco amongst first round exits
The first round at the 2011 Heineken Open wrapped up yesterday as the remaining nine matches were played on Tuesday. Though most of the seeds made it through, the day did see a seed casualty amongst first round exits.
Meeting for the first time on ATP Tour, qualifier Adrian Mannarino met fifth seed Juan Monaco. Playing at his second straight event for the year, Mannarino got off to a better start this time than he did the last time. Playing
at the 2011 Brisbane International last week, Mannarino was ousted in the first round courtesy fourth seed Mardy Fish. However, this time around, determined to stay in the running, Mannarino moved past three opponents to qualify for the main draw defeating
fifth seed Brian Dabul in the final round.
Moving into the main draw, Mannarino drew against fifth seeded Argentinean Juan Monaco. With two Argentineans including David Nalbandian, it came as no surprise when the courts had a small band of cheering Argentineans in the crowd.
Sufficient to say Monaco enjoyed the crowd support more than the Frenchman did. Ranked 29th in the world, about 50 places above Mannarino, Monaco was clearly the favourite to win the match. Thus, it came as much shock to everyone when Mannarino
turned the tables on the fifth seed.
In a match that lasted 76 minutes, Mannarino struck four aces and lost only 17 of 49 points to secure a 6-4, 6-3 win. Winning the match, Mannarino said, "I don't know what his ranking is but maybe he is the best player I have ever
beaten. I have seen a lot of matches of Juan's and I know that he can play so much better. I think that the condition with the wind was a bit tough for him and it's never easy. Maybe it was his first tournament of the year, or his second, so he'll get better
and it was maybe a good day for me to play him."
As luck would have it, Mannarino is the only qualifier to move ahead in the event. All the other three have fallen in their opening round clashes.
The first qualifier to exit the event was American Michael Russell as he fell prey to seventh seed Thomaz Bellucci. Although Russell put up a fight, in the end Bellucci just outlasted the American to move ahead in the event. Winning
the first set 6-4, Bellucci had to fight to stay alive in the game, allowing the second set to go into the tiebreaker, which he incidentally lost 7-4. Entering into the decider, both players went head-to-head keeping the score tied for ten games. Catching
a lucky break in the eleventh game, Bellucci was able to secure a 7-5 win in the decider.
Leaving along with Russell was his compatriot Bobby Reynolds. Although Reynolds qualified into the main draw with no set loss, his first round match did not go exactly as he had hoped. In almost two hours, Reynolds was defeated
by Marcel Granollers in straight sets. Granollers registered a 6-4, 6-3 score for the match.
Seeded third in the qualifying round, Pere Riba also exited the event only in his first round of the main draw. Pitted against Tobias Kamke, Riba was forced to exit the event following defeat in straight sets.
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