2011 Movistar Open, Potito Starace reaches quarterfinal joined by Juan Ignacio Chela
Fourth seeded Argentine, Juan Ignacio Chela equalled his career best at the Movistar Open when he made it to the quarterfinal round on Thursday.
Chela moves ahead in the event after successfully dismissing Brazilian qualifier, Caio Zampieri in straight sets.
Sporting an all time 6-7 win loss mark at the event so far, Giraldo last made it to the quarterfinals here in 2009. Coming from a first round win against local Jorge Aguilar, Chela played Zampieri for the first time in his career and wrapped it up in less
than ninety minutes.
Given the huge disparity in the rankings, it came as no surprise to anyone when Chela moved past Zampieri with a loss of only five games.
Serving a slightly higher percentage of 55% to Zampieri’s 52% on his first serve, Chela scored an impressive 72% off it. He converted three of five break opportunities as he held Zampieri to seven points, clinching the first set 6-2.
He continued his dominance into the second set as he raised his first serve winning percentage to 83%. Losing only eight points on service, Chela successfully converted three of seven break opportunities to register a 6-3 win for the second set and seal
his straight sets victory.
Commenting on the match after, the Argentine said, “I didn’t feel comfortable in the match today. I was tense. The conditions were difficult, the court is really dry and with altitude, if you don’t hit the ball correctly it goes out. I won in two sets even
if the score doesn’t reflect at all how I felt out there. It is a great feeling at the end of the day to be in the quarters though”.
Joining Chela in the final eight is Italian Potito Starace. Having never made it past the second round, Starace surpassed his career best at the event when he made it into the final eight on Thursday.
Pitted against Pablo Andujar for the second time in their career, Starace extended his lead to 2-0 in the head to head after he successfully dismissed the Spaniard in straight sets with a loss of only five games.
Landing a mere 53% on the T, it was impressive that Starace registered a point winning percentage of 85% on his first serve in the opening set. Saving two break points and breaking Andujar’s service once, Starace clinched a 6-4 win in the first set going
one up in the set score.
Maintaining his dominance on the court, Starace landed an impressive 85% on first serve. Holding the Spaniard to seven points, Starace clinched a breadstick for himself as he made his way into the quarterfinals.
Starace will next play Horacio Zeballos while Chela moves on ahead to play the unseeded, Santiago Giraldo. Given the recent run, a semi-final clash between Giraldo and Zeballos can be expected.
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