Diego Junqueira stoops to Pedro Sousa in the first round - Barranquilla Challenger 2012
Diego Junqueira of Argentina bowed out to the 23-years-old Portuguese starlet, Pedro Sousa, in the opening round clash of the Barranquilla Challenger. On Wednesday, the third seed Argentine was forced to exit the arena after a
tough three-setter ending in favour of the young Portuguese 6-1, 2-6, 6-0.
The qualifier dug deep to nail his opponent down taking an hour and 22 minutes. He had come all the way from the qualifying stages of the tournament and now sees himself in the second round of the tournament. He is ecstatic on
his performance especially after his cracking triumph against the 112th ranked Argentine.
Junqueira went a break down early in the opening set. He was trailing 1-5 after the completion of first six games. Sousa had already broken twice and was set to end the first set on a high-note with another thumping breakthrough
to enhance his chances of registering a majestic upset. He was smart enough to win another breakpoint in the following game and ended the first set in quick succession.
It was becoming pretty ominous for the third seed but he started the second set well; broke his opponent’s serve in the first game and powered down Sousa to a 5-1 lead courtesy to another breathtaking display in the fifth game
that earned him the second breakpoint of the set.
He spared just one more game for the 289th ranked Portuguese before levelling the set scores at one apiece.
Stage was set for a cracking third set battle but the third seed player was not able to handle the onslaught of his opponent. He went down to a trail of 0-4 at the start and couldn’t utilize his experience to come out of this misery.
Sousa was rocking the show and his confidence was sky-rocketing at that stage. He was hitting the ball from the sweet part of the racquet and finding corners of the court at ease. Another breakthrough in the sixth game registered
a dramatic bagel for the Portuguese youngster. He faces off against the British participant, James Ward, in the second round of the tournament.
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