Albert Montanes edges pass Michael Berrer to reach the quarter-finals of the Serbia Open
Ranked at number 28 in the world, Albert Montanes of Spain took down the German opponent, Michael Berrer in the second round of the Serbia Open at Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday evening. The fourth seeded Spanish outclassed Berrer
in the three-setter, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, taking almost 90 minutes of play to book a berth in the quarter-final round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
30-year-old Montanes finally avenged his defeat from the German, who beat him in straight sets four years ago at Wimbledon. The Spaniard had a sloppy start to the game and gifted the opener to Berrer in just forty minutes. However,
the fourth seed showed his true class in the later sets of the game and raced to victory in the most assertive manner. He lost just four out of 16 games being played in the last two sets, including seven straight games starting at 2-2 in the second set.
Having an explosive start to the contest, the 93rd ranked German lost his steam in the later parts of the game. He took down the fourth seeded competitor in the opening set convincingly but a tremendous comeback from
Montanes in the second set left him answerless. Berrer’s slump continued even in the decisive third set he eventually lost the game to his opponent, ending his voyage at the Serbia Open.
30-year-old German veteran ignited the match with aggression and secured 16 of 19 first serve points to get the competitive advantage over the opponent. He converted his second break opportunity to go past his opponent and then
consolidated his lead to bag the first set at 6-3.
Montanes finally got his flare in the second set and converted 72 per cent of his serve points to transfer pressure upon his rival. Berrer’s precision was lost in the game and he sprayed plenty of strokes all over the clay court.
The Spaniard shifted his gears at 2-2 and rocketed away to 6-2 to clinch the second set and level the matchup at 1-1. Montanes carried on his winning momentum in the decider as well, reeling of the opening three games to get to a 3-0 substantial lead. The
German couldn’t withstand the fury of Montanes for long and finally surrendered the third set to his opponent at 2-6.
Montanes will be taking on Feliciano Lopez in an all-Spanish clash in the quarter-finals. Lopez defeated the Chilean wildcard Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(4), in the second round to meet his fellow compatriot Montanes
in the round of eight.
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