Alessandro Giannessi bounces to win against Marco Crugnola in 2nd round – Tennislife Cup 2011 CH
Italian Alessandro Giannessi survived past his fellow countryman and wild card entrant, Marco Crugnola after making a massive comeback to secure a last eight spot at the Tennislife Cup 2011, an ATP Challenger series event taking
place in Napoli, Italy. He was a set down but later outclassed his compatriot to register a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory on Wednesday.
Ranked 157th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Giannessi outmuscled his countryman, ranked 128 spots below him, in a three set thriller at the Greenpark Posillipo. Facing each other for the first
time, the higher ranked Italian overpowered Crugnola in two hours and six minutes to secure a quarter-final spot in this event.
28-year-old Crugnola flashed into the clay courts to pull out a rapid opener with a 6-3 score line. He produced an equal first serve share of 59 percent and registered a tremendous 79 percent win on it. Furthermore, he saved one
out of two breakpoints faced and converted half of the four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage. Crugnola broke the opening serve of his compatriot and regardless of losing his serve in the proceeding game, he broke again in the fourth game and then
held remaining serves to clinch the set.
21-year-old Giannessi raised his level of game to that of his compatriot. He produced an acceptable first serve share of 67 percent as compared to Crugnola’s 69 percent and earned an impressive 65 percent win on it. The delighted
Italian broke Crugnola’s serve early on in the fourth game but lost his edge in the very next game. However, he broke again in the eighth game and then held his serve to pocket the equaliser with a 6-3 win.
The blissful Italian kept momentum rolling into the final set. He unleashed flurry of groundstrokes to wipe out first four games in a row before Crugnola could get on board. Giannessi then strike out the last two games to earn
the breadstick. He faced zero breakpoint and capitalised on three out of nine breakpoint opportunities to his advantage. The winning Italian also produced a higher first serve share of 84 percent as compared to Crugnola’s 74 percent and registered a magnificent
69 percent win on it.
Giannessi will square off against Croat Antonio Veic who upset third seeded Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer in brutal three sets to reach this spot. The Italian needs to improve his defence to overpower Veic and to advance further
in this event.
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