Albert Montanes cripples Tommy Robredo to capture title – AON Open 2012
In an all-Spanish affair, seventh seeded Albert Montanes crushed his compatriot, Tommy Robredo, with a breadstick at the AON Open 2012 on Sunday. He nudged up a 6-4, 6-1 victory against the former world number five to lift the crown at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event held in Genoa, Italy.
The seeded Spaniard displayed brilliant tennis to outclass his fellow veteran for the first time in their ninth meeting. The players last fought each other at the Shanghai Masters two years ago and after pocketing this match, Montanes comfortably grabbed
the title.
Montanes high-spiritedly entered this outdoor clay court event. He held his opening serve to level the scores at 1-1. The seed continued hitting angled shots and with a single break of serve, he clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line. He amazingly brushed
off all five breakpoints he came across to keep his entire serves. The higher ranked Spaniard cashed in the lone break chance in the ninth game to inch towards the glory.
Ranked 111th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Montanes lifted his game in the following set. He got the desiderated break in the opening game to take the initial lead. The seed swiped his entire serves without facing any trouble
and capitalised on three out of five break chances to pull out the victory with a breadstick.
Summing up the 31-year-old performance, Montanes spilled more double faults and failed to hit an ace. However, he clobbered a slightly better first serve share of 60 per cent as opposed to his compatriot’s 58 per cent and amazingly availed 30 out of 39 points
on it. The seed also converted four out of six break opportunities to his advantage and finished the match with 62 points.
The Barcelona resident, Montanes stunned top seed Andreas Seppi with a breadstick en route to the final showdown. He also upset the fourth seed, Filippo Volandri, in a three-set thriller in the semi-finals.
Robredo on the other end plonked sixth seed Lukas Rosol and fifth seed Simone Bolelli on his route to the final round.
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