Albert Ramos beats Dmitry Tursunov in the opening round – Qatar Open 2012
World number 66, Spain’s Albert Ramos, faced 40th ranked Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the first round of men’s singles competition at Qatar Open 2012. The match was held on January 2, 2012 in Doha, where
Ramos won the match in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, to take of the new ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season in style.
Ramos seemed to be playing on the back foot right from the beginning of the match and his sloppy start gave Tursunov the opportunity to gain advantage in the first set right away. Ramos has won twelve out of thirteen matches
on outdoor hard courts while Tursunov won nine out of his ten matches. For Ramos, his experience for playing and winning on such courts proved useful as he kept his nerves under control throughout the contest.
Ramos being a seasoned player could only score a single ace in the match while Tursunov earned points with five aces. Tursunov was playing some nice shots which kept Ramos at bay for some time in the match but the Spaniard
came back strongly as the match progressed. The 23-year-old left-hander did not remain on the back foot as he started earning points quite rapidly with his smashes and decent game play.
As the first set made its way, Ramos conceded three double faults and broke Tursunov’s serves twice, which shifted the momentum of the match in his favour. The Russian could only break Ramos’ serve once. The 29-year-old was
cruising ahead in the first set but Ramos accelerated from behind and gained an impressive lead, restricting Tursunov by winning five games. Ramos won two games more than Tursunov, winning the first set 7-5.
With the second set in progress, Ramos was in the lead right from the beginning. His shot selection was right on target as he did not give any room to the Russian in freely play his shots. Ramos got some leverage when he
saved all of his breakpoints, with Ramos playing all his service games with elegance. Tursunov did not have any room to win games as he halted after winning two games. Ramos won the second set 6-2.
This was the second time when Ramos and Tursunov met on a tennis court. Their first meeting, however, came in 2011 at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, where Tursunov won the match 7-6(5), 6-4. Ramos took revenge by comprehensively
beating Tursunov and entering into the next round. Ramos will not face Russia’s Alex Bogomolov in the second round of the Qatar Open 2012.
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