Albert Ramos-Vinolas beats Joao Sousa to reach the semi-finals – Estoril Open 2012
Spanish fourth seed, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, eased into the semi-final stage of the Estoril Open at the expense of the 23-year-old Portuguese wildcard entrant, Joao Sousa. He won the match in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 utilizing just
an hour and 27 minutes.
The local boy started off in shaky fashion; lost a couple of serve games in the opening set that clearly wrote him off the first set. Some of the crowd was still walking in the arena and their hero was already down and out in the
opening set.
Vinolas scuttled past to a lead of 4-0 and just spared a couple of games for the Portuguese before bagging the opening set in quick succession. The Spaniard won two out of three allotted breakpoints and converted a major ratio
of his first and second serves. He won 26 points in the opening set and won it with a difference of eight points in the end.
Both players started cautiously in the second set. They bagged the first two serve games and pushed the scores to 2-2. However, the opening breakthrough came in the fifth game and the visitor took a lead of 3-2. It was the longest
game of the match witnessing two successful breakpoints saved by the local but he failed to repeat the heroics for the third time.
Both players bagged their respective serve games to register scores of 5-3. However, the pressure mounted on the Portuguese who faltered on his serve for the second time in the set that was the final action of the match.
Just a difference of two points decided the second set between the two players. Ironically, the Spaniard won the set with a lead of three games but there was not much as far as points were concerned. He won 32 compared to 30 of
his rival.
Upcoming matchup for the Spaniard will feature the second seed French starlet, Richard Gasquet, who dumped the Spanish qualifier, Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, in straight sets to book a spot in the last four. It is going to be an enthralling
battle between the two players to say the least.
Other two semi-finalists that will lock horns on the eve of Saturday include the likes of the top seed Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro, and the third seed Swiss star, Stanislas Wawrinka. All four seeds have successfully made it
to the last four which sets up two strong semi-final showdowns.
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