Daniel Munoz-De La Nava beats Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the opener – German Tennis Championships 2012
Spanish qualifier, Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, bounced back after getting thrashed in the first set to beat his countryman, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, in three sets 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round at the Bet-at-home German Tennis Championships
in Hamburg on Monday. Munoz-De La Nava needed two hours and 32 minutes to come out victorious from a close match.
Hidalgo was the more dominant player in the first set, as he allowed Munoz-De La Nava to claim only one game until the end, snatching two breaks of serve and making the most of them to triumph 6-1.
The Spaniard hit a single ace and 63 percent of the first deliveries, clinching 13 of the 20 points on them. The 34-year-old gave an incredible performance on the second returns, converting nine of the 11 of them into points.
Hidalgo and Munoz-De La Nava swapped a break in the first four games of the second set, taking the score to 2-2. The next five games went with serves to take the proceedings to 5-4 in favour of Munoz-De La Nava. Serving to stay
in the set at 4-5, Hidalgo could not succeed in his mission and lost it 4-6.
Munoz-De La Nava banged in one ace and did not commit any double fault in the second set. The Madrid, Spain resident failed to save the only break point he faced and converted two of the six he received.
In the final set, both players held their serve in the opening five games to take the score to 3-2 in favour of Munoz-De La Nava. The Spaniard hit a blow to Hidalgo in the sixth and consolidated on it to move ahead 5-2. The left-hander
allowed his compatriot to win one more and reduce the trail to 5-3 but Munoz-De La Nava served it out at 5-3.
Munoz-De La Nava smacked a single ace and conceeded one double fault, putting in 77 percent of the first serves and bagging 17 of the 23 points on them.
The Spanish contender will face Cedrik-Marcel Stebe or Juan Monaco in the round of 16.
Tags: