David Goffin outlasts Arnau Brugues-Davi in the final qualifier – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
Top seed, David Goffin of Belgium, fought back after dropping the opener to rally past 172nd ranked, Arnau Brugues-Davi, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-0 in the final round of the qualifying draw at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
in Spain on Sunday.
The Belgian required two hours and 20 minutes to down the local player in a close match.
Goffin made a fine start, as he broke Brugues-Davi in the third game of the first set and consolidated on it to take a 3-1 lead. The Spaniard bounced back and levelled the score at 4-4. Brugues-Davi and the Belgian held their serve
in the next four games to force a tie-breaker. The Spaniard raced to a 3-0 lead but Goffin clawed his way back to even out the score at 5-5. At that moment, Brugues-Davi grabbed two consecutive points to win 7-6(5).
The Spaniard did not serve very well, as he was unable to hit any ace and committed two double faults. He put in just 56 percent of the first deliveries and won 17 of the 22 points on them. Nevertheless, Brugues-Davi impressed
with his ground strokes, as he hit accurate fore hand and back hand shots.
Just like the first set, Goffin got the upper hand early in the second, making a breakthrough in the fourth game and holding his following serve to attain a 4-1 lead. Brugues-Davi fought back one again, as he captured three in
a row to square off the score at 4-4. However, Goffin was not in a mood to surrender this time, grabbing two successive games to seal it 6-4.
The Belgian could not damage his opponent with the help of serves except hitting four aces. He committed three double faults and kept his first delivery percentage at just 45, winning merely 10 of the 17 points on them. His performance
on returns was at least better than the serves, as he pocketed six of the 14 first and eight of the 18 second reply points.
After winning a closely contested second set, Goffin humiliated Brugues-Davi in the decider, as he did not allow the Spaniard to claim even a single game, hitting three blows to clinch it 6-0.
The Belgian did not give his opponent any chance to chance to break and availed three of the six of his own in the final set.
Goffin will take on 16th seed, Pablo Andujar, in the first round of the main draw.
Tags: