Daniel Gimeno-Traver battles past Roberto Bautista-Agut into quarterfinal – Madrid Challenger 2011
Spanish tennis pro Daniel Gimeno-Traver battled past compatriot Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to book his place in quarterfinal of 2011 Madrid Challenger series here in Madrid, Spain.
Seeded third at the Association of Tennis Professionals tournament, Gimeno-Traver has been in superb form since the start of this week. Although he has been tested thoroughly, he managed to come up with his A-game whenever he needed.
Losing a set to MacEiras in the opening round, he played a very competitive match to reach the second round.
His ability to play well under pressure has allowed him coming out on top in pressure situations. He will be hoping to maintain his terrific form for the entire next week to secure his first ATP title of the season. However, to
do well against other top seeded players at the tournament, he will have up his game play considerably. Hitting only 56 per cent first serve, he was clearly not at his best.
Gimeno-Traver looked in control in the opening set of the match. Despite putting up a very ordinary show in second set, the Spaniard was able to wrap up the proceedings with a strong performance in third and final set.
Looking for a place in last eight, Gimeno-Traver made a strong start to the match. Claiming four straight points, he bagged first service game quite comfortably. Both men held on to their first three serve games as some highly
competitive tennis was witnessed. Breaking the deadlock, Gimeno-Traver made his first serve break in seventh game of the set to take a tricky 4-3 lead. Holding on to his next two service games with ease, he pocketed the opener to take 1-0 set score lead.
Agut fought back hard in the following set. Playing more aggressively from the baseline, he created a fair number of opportunities for himself. Converting a break chance in eight game of the set, he earned a handsome 5-3 lead,
serving to even the set score. Blasting a big forehand winner down the line, he
bagged the set to shift the balance of the match.
Despite having the momentum on his side, Agut failed to make most of the opportunities presented to him in the decider. Gimeno-Traver on the other hand forced errors from his opponent regularly. Breaking the serve twice, he raced
to an impassable game score lead. Hitting a blistering serve ace, he closed out the match that lasted for one hour and 57 minutes.
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