Albert Montanes stuns Milos Raonic in the first round – Monte-Carlo Rolex Master 2012
Spanish contender, Albert Montanes, surprised the Canadian ace, Milos Raonic, in a three set mouth-watering match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012, a Masters 1000 event taking place in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He nudged up a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory against
the 21-year-old to power into the second round on Monday.
The Spanish veteran brought his experience into handy and upset the world number 24 in their first clash. After earning the limelight in one hour and 48 minutes, Montanes not only took lead in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 1-0 against the Canadian
but also secured a place in the second round at the Monte Carlo Country Club.
Montanes thundered into this ATP clay court event and held his serve in the second game to level the scores at 1-1. After Raonic plucked his serve in the third game, the Spaniard blasted flat groundstrokes to go on a five-game rampage and sealed the opener
by winning six games to two.
Raonic got back in action in the follow-up set despite suffering the first blow in the third game. After trailing at 1-3, the Canadian unleashed barrage of massive forehands to wipe out the proceeding five games in a row and pulled out the equaliser by winning
six games to three.
The match was balanced on a knife edge but the 31-year-old was the one who re-gathered his strength and his early form. Montanes Pocketed his entire serves without facing any obstacle and got the breakthrough in the sixth game to clinch the decider with
a 6-3 score line.
Overall, Montanes manifested a better first serve share of 73 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 58 per cent and tremendously clicked 38 out of 53 points on it.
Up next for the Spaniard is the seventh seed, Janko Tipsarevic, who received a first round bye after being a top eight player of the tournament.
The Australian number one, Bernard Tomic, will join Montanes in the second round. He swiped in his entire serves without coming across with any breakpoint and cashed in half of the six break chances to formulate a 6-4, 6-3 success.
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