Daniel Gimeno-Traver ousts Frederico Gil to qualify for the main round – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Seeded 14th in the qualifying draw, Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain defeated Portugal’s Frederico Gil in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in the final qualifier at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Sunday. The local player took
an hour and 33 minutes to topple Gil ina convincing fashion.
Gimeno-Traver and Gil began steadily, as they held their serve in the first 10 games of the opener to square off the score at 5-5. The Spaniard made the only breakthrough in the 11th game and served it out at 6-5.
The world number 107, Gimeno-Traver fired five aces and snatched 15 of the 17 points on the first serves. He was below average on the second deliveries and first returns, claiming nine of the 16 and six of the 28 points on them
respectively. Nevertheless, the Spaniard outperformed his opponent with the help of aggressive second replies, as he converted 11 of the 16 of them into points.
Gimeno-Traver did not take much time to move ahead in the second set, grabbing a break in the third game and consolidating on it to attain a 3-1 advantage. The Spaniard maintained his unbroken run on serve, holding all of them
to win 6-4.
The 6ft 1in tall sent blistering first serves at his opponent, banging in a total of six aces in the second set. Gimeno-Traver had a satisfactory conversion rate, as he won 17 of the 25 points on the first and 11 of the 19 points
on the second deliveries. The Spaniard put away all the five break threats he faced and capitalised on one of the two chances he created.
Gimeno-Traver will be looking to win his first tour level match of the season at this event, losing all of the four previous ones in 2012. Playing his first tournament of the year, he lost to Alex Bogomolov Jr., ranked 34 at that
time, in straight sets 3-6, 2-6, 4-6 in the Australian Open first round. The Spaniard was beaten by the then world number 55, Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, 2-6, 3-6 in the opening match at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell last week.
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