Carlos Gomez-Herrera, Pedro Sousa make it to the main draw – San Sebastian Challenger 2011
Spaniard Carlos Gomez-Herrera crushed compatriot Marcos Giraldi Requena 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to book his place in the main draw of the ongoing 2011 International San Sebastian Challengers qualification tournament here in San Sebastian,
Spain.
Seeded sixth at the Association of Tennis Professionals tournament, Herrera looked in top form in a match that lasted for only one hour and eighteen minutes on the red clay courts of San Sebastian.
Looking to make it to the main draw, Gomez-Herrera made a shiny start to the match. Breaking his opponent’s serve early in the opening set, he looked in charge of the contest. The Spaniard did not allow his opponent any room to
play his shots as he raced to a healthy 4-1 in the opener. Smashing his gorgeous forehand and backhand winners cross court and down the line, he made the challenger run for his money. Gomez-Herrera converted his second break chance of the set with a blistering
serve to take 1-0 lead in the set score.
Gomez-Herrera continued to pressurise his opponent in the second set as well as he dominated almost all aspects of the game. Breaking the serve at regular intervals in the second set as well, he made his rival’s game play look
completely ineffective. Executing his game plan to perfection, he forced errors from the challenger to earn cheap points. He handled crucial situations extremely well at as he claimed his final service game with four straight points to seal a straight sets
victory.
Number six seed Gomez-Herrera served with control and accuracy and hit an impressive 69 per cent first serve in the match. He also claimed nearly 70 per cent of the points on his second serve, which of course proved to be the main
difference between the two players. Requena seemed clueless at times as he missed a few easy scoring opportunities. His inability to convert the break chances played a huge role in deciding the outcome of the match.
Second seed Pedro Sousa from Portugal also qualified for the main draw with a strong 6-2, 6-3 victory over French Baptise Dupuy.
Ranked 491st in the world, Sousa looked in commanding form in a match that lasted for only 1 hour and 11 minutes. Dupuy on the other hand looked a bit out of sorts as a number of his forehand and backhand shots landed
outside the lines.
Sousa broke the serve five times and held on to most of his serve games to establish complete control over the contest. Forcing errors from his opponent, he played a very controlled match. He will be looking to continue his good
form in next match-up as well.
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