Chris Guccione, Matthew Ebden through to main draw of BNP Paribas Open
Chris Guccione defeats Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-4, 6-3
Chris Guccione of Australia upset Spain's Daniel Munoz-De La Nava in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the final round of the qualifying draw at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday. The 25-year-old took just over an hour to wrap up the victory.
The Australian broke Munoz-De La Nava in the seventh game of the opening set, and then held his next service game to take a 5-3 lead. He then served out the set in the 10th game, winning it 6-4.
Guccione served very well in the opening set, hitting 10 aces and 56 percent of his first serves. The Australian did not face a single break point in the opening set. On the other hand, his opponent could save just one of the three break points he faced
in the first set.
The second set was not too different from the first, as Guccione needed just a single break to claim the set, winning it 6-3.
The Australian hit 63 percent of the first serves in the second set, winning 93 percent of the points on them. The right hander has a 0-1 win/loss record this year. He qualified for the main draw at the Medibank International in Sydney, where he lost to
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in straight sets 6-7(5), 5-7 in the first round.
Guccione will now face world number 158, James Blake of USA in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Blake, a wild card entrant at this tournament, is a former top five player in the world.
Matthew Ebden beats Izak Van Der Merwe in straight sets
In another final round match of the qualifying draw, Matthew Ebden of Australia ousted Izak Van Der Merwe of South Africa in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 to qualify for the main draw of the championship.
Ebden broke Van Der Merwe once in the opening set, winning it 6-4. The Australian hit one ace and 54 percent of the first serves in the opening set. His opponent however, served better than him, hitting two aces and 69 percent of the first serves but was
unable to challenge for the set.
After losing the first set, the South African tried to come back into the match, as he broke Ebden in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. However, the Australian broke back in the seventh game. The 23-year-old broke again in the 11th game and
then served out the set at 6-5. The match lasted for an hour and 37 minutes.
Ebden is slated to meet world number 102 Mischa Zverev of Germany in the first round of the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
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