2011 Movistar Open: Ricardo Hocevar and Facundo Bagnis exit the event
Qualifiers, Ricardo Hocevar and Facundo Bagnis had short-lived stays in the main draw as they were ousted from the 2011 Movistar Open in their opening clashes on Wednesday.
Currently ranked 234th in the world, Hocevar gained acceptance in the main draw on Sunday after winning his qualifying final match against local, Guillermo Hormazabal. Seeded seventh in the qualifying draw, Hocevar had
moved into the main draw without dropping a single set and losing only two games in the final round of the qualifiers.
Hocevar was pitted against Argentine Horacio Zeballos in his opening clash of the main draw. Although the pair had never met in a tour level clash, their Challenger head-to-head rested at 3-2 in Zeballos’ favour, with their last
meeting coming in 2009.
After winning the Newcomer of the Year Award in 2009, Zeballos is playing his first tour level event since his first round exit to Victor Hanescu at the 2010 St. Petersburg Open. Formerly ranked as the world number 41, Zeballos
lies at the 108th spot in the world and is playing at the event, which is taking place in Santiago, Chile, with the hopes of making it back to the Top 50.
Zeballos landed an impressive 63 per cent of his first serve inside the T in the opener, while securing 74 per cent of the points on it. However, closely matched by the Brazilian, the first set was pushed into a tiebreaker. The
left-handed Argentinean did justice to his ranking as he dominated the tiebreaker, striking four aces and a couple of excellent winners. As a result, Zeballos held Hocevar to two points while he raced to seven clinching the tiebreaker 7-2.
The second set followed in the same suit, though the break came early for the Argentine. With the score tied after eight games, Zeballos broke service in the ninth game before clinching the 10th on his own to seal his
straight sets victory over Hocevar.
Zeballos struck seven aces, saved four of five break points and lost only 22 of 72 points on service to move ahead in the event in less than two hours. He will next play compatriot and top seed, David Nalbandian.
Although Zeballos was lucky in his opening clash, his compatriot Bagnis was not. Eighth seed, Santiago Giraldo forced Bagnis out of the event after a three-set match between the two.
Playing for the first time at the event, Giraldo looks to win his maiden title in Chile. Ranked 200 places above Bagnis, it came as much surprise to the crowd and fans alike when Bagnis clinched the first set 6-2. Bouncing back
from being one set down, Giraldo was able to break service once in the second set to secure a 6-3 victory before clinching a 6-2 win in the deciding set.
In a match that lasted 99 minutes, Giraldo took advantage of Bagnis’ 11 double faults, converted four of six break opportunities and lost only 26 of 74 points on service to ensure his survival at the event.
Giraldo will next play the unseeded Russian, Igor Andreev for a spot in the quarterfinals.
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