Bank Austria Tennis Trophy and Open Sud de France; Highlights from Thursday
The third seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain, needed two hours and eight minutes to get past Santiago Giraldo from Colombia in a three setter clash at the 2010 Bank Austria Tennis Trophy Men’s singles competition on Thursday. The final
match score was 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-3.
Nicolas, who captured a total of two ATP World Tour clay-court crowns in 2010 at the SkiStar Swedish Open in Bastad and at the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad, blasted twelve aces to record his 43rd
victory of the season.
"It was a very tough match. I need to play better than today to be in the semi-final. I need to play more aggressive with my serve. We’ll see tomorrow. I think I can do, but I need to try a little bit more,” reflected the Spaniard
after the match on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Marcos Baghdatis of Cypriot, who also made his way into the title battle last week in Moscow, smashed a total of eleven aces to sweep aside Bjorn Phau in a two setter clash on Thursday. The final score line was 7-5,
6-2.
The third seed Cypriot, as a result of this victory, will next take on another German Michael Berrer in the final eight battle, who reached the quarter final after surpassing Pablo Cuevas in three sets. The final score line was
5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Berrer closed out the battle in one hour and fifty five minutes.
The Argentinean tennis ace Juan Ignacio Chela, who is seeded number eight to win the title, also cruised past his Slovakian opponent Grega Zemlja in three sets. The final match score was 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3. Juan is looking to win
his third ATP World Tour crown of the year.
In other action in Montpellier, Ivan Ljubicic, who is currently ranked number seventeen in the ATP rankings, advanced into his sixth final-eight battle of the season at the Open Sud de France on Thursday as he beat Taylor Dent
from the United States of America in two sets. The final match score was 7-5, 6-4. Ivan concluded the match in just eighty seven minutes.
Ivan, as a result of this victory has now improved his win loss mark to 399-269 on the tour.
The sixth seed Albert Montanes of Spain also proved too strong for his French foe, Michael Llodra as he prevented all four break point opportunities to beat Llodra in straight sets. The final score line was 6-4, 7-6(5). The battle
was stretched to a time period of ninety minutes on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Gilles Simon made his way into the final eight after hammering down a wild card entrant, David Nalbandian in three sets. The final match score was 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5. Gilles took two hours and fifteen minutes to close
out the battle on Thursday.
"I am extremely happy about this victory. I almost lost the match fairly easily and was able to come through in the second and third set. Nalbandian is probably one of the toughest opponents indoor so this victory feels really
good,” said Gilles after the victory.
The third seed Gael Monfils of France also joined Simon in the quarterfinal round as he capitalized on his three break points in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Steve Darcis, a qualifier from Belgium.
Monfils will next take on John Isner, who is a professional tennis player from the United States of America. Monfils stands at 1-3 in their head to head encounter.
When asked about his next round’s opponent, the Frenchman said that he will have to concentrate and remain focused throughout the battle as Isner has been playing some great tennis since winning his first single title this season
in Auckland.
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