Arnau Brugues-Davi rallies past Simon Greul into the last four – Franken Challenge 2012 CH
In a match between two unseeded players, Arnau Brugues-Davi of Spain faced a lot of resistance from Germany’s Simon Greul but finally succeeded in beating him in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals at the Franken Challenge
in Furth, Germany on Friday. The Spaniard, ranked at the 178th spot in the world, took two hours and six minutes to win the contest.
Brugues-Davi made the ideal start to the encounter, as he captured first three games to go up 3-0. Greul tried to level the score by breaking the Spaniard in the fifth and reducing the trail to 2-3 but he lost his serve again in
the sixth to trail 2-4. Brugues-Davi did not give any more opportunities to his opponent to come back into the set and closed it 6-3.
The Spaniard fired four aces and 74 percent of the first deliveries in the opening set, sealing 16 of the 20 points on them. He continuously attacked the German’s weak second serves, as he captured six of the nine points on them.
The 27-year-old evaded two of the three break threats he faced and availed two of the four chances he had.
After losing the first set easily, Greul made a better start in the second, holding his break in the opening game and snatching a break in the following one to move ahead 2-0. However, Brugues-Davi hit back immediately to square
off the proceedings at 2-2. Greul struck again in the sixth and capitalised on it to triumph 6-3.
The German player banged in a couple of aces and did not make any double fault in the second set. The 6ft 1in tall kept his first serve percentage at 69 and clinched 12 of the 18 points on them. He also did an impressive job on
the second deliveries and replies, as he bagged five of the eight and eight of the 12 points on them respectively.
Brugues-Davi did not lose his composure after getting surprised in the second set, going up 3-0 at the start of the third. The Spaniard did not lose his serve even once till the end and grabbed it 6-3.
The left-hander did not have any stunning statistics on the first serve, as he maintained a percentage of 66 and pocketed 15 of the 23 points on them.
Brugues-Davi will lock horns with top seed, Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, in the semis.
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