Alessandro Giannessi edges past Michael Berrer into the second round – SkiStar Swedish Open 2012
Italy’s 146th ranked player, Alessandro Giannessi, came back after losing the second set to oust the world number 125, Michael Berrer of Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) in the first round at the SkiStar Swedish Open in Bastad,
Sweden on Tuesday. Giannessi needed almost three hours to beat Berrer in the longest match of the day.
The Italian and Berrer broke each other in the first two games of the match and levelled the score at 1-1. Giannessi hit a blow to the German contender in the seventh and made the most of it to triumph 6-4.
The La Spezia, Italy resident failed to hit any ace and conceded three double faults in the opening set. However, the left-hander put pressure on his opponent’s weak second serves, claiming five of the eight points on them.
Berrer made an ideal start in the second set, capturing opening three games to build a 3-0 lead. However, the Italian bounced back in style to square off the proceedings at 3-3. The trend continued, as Berrer snatched last three
games to close it 6-3.
Neither of the two players managed to hit an ace in the second set. Berrer committed only one double fault compared to two by his opponent. The German did the same what Giannessi had done with in the previous set, attacking the
Italian’s second deliveries to win five of the seven points on them.
The start of the decider was exactly similar to the first set, as Berrer and Giannessi swapped a break of serve in the first two games to equalise the score at 1-1. The Italian claimed a breakthrough in the fourth and held his
subsequent serve to take a 4-1 lead but Berrer did not take much time to level it at 4-4. The rest of the set went with serves to take it to 6-6 and force a tie-breaker. The German started with a 2-0 lead but Giannessi levelled it at 2-2. Berrer then raced
to a 5-2 advantage but the Italian won five points in a row to win 7-6(5).
The Italian is pitted against Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain in the second round.
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