Facundo Bagnis outlasts Kamil Capkovic in the first round – ARAD Challenger 2012
World number 222, Facundo Bagnis of Argentina, survived the bashing in the second set to beat the 224th ranked Slovakian, Kamil Capkovic, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the opening round at the ARAD Challenger in Romania on Tuesday.
Capkovic was the first to move ahead, as he snatched opening three games to race to a 3-0 lead. The Slovakian held his serve in the fifth to take the score to 4-1 in his favour. However, Bagnis made a stunning turnaround later
on, as he did not allow his opponent to claim even one more game, breaking him in the seventh and ninth to grab it 6-4.
The Argentinean banged in two aces but also made the same number of double faults in the first set. He gave a decent first serve percentage of 74 and converted 16 of the 20 of them into points. Bagnis could not save the only break
point he faced but compensated that by converting two of the five he received.
Just like the previous set, Capkovic snatched a break in the second game of the following set and held his next serve to attain a 3-0 advantage. He did not allow the Argentinean to bounce back and claimed two more games to stretch
his lead to 5-0. Bagnis evaded some humiliation by holding his serve in the sixth to open his account but he could not disturb the score any further, losing it 1-6.
Capkovic fired a couple of aces and 60 percent of the first deliveries in the second set. His conversion rate was more than impressive, winning 10 of the 12 first and six of the eight second serve points. The Slovakian was almost
flawless on his second returns, as he lost only one point on them, securing three of the four.
After losing the second set with an embarrassing score line, Bagnis hit a blow to the Slovakian in the second game to go up 2-0 but lost the following two, levelling it at 2-2. The Argentinean managed to snatch decisive breakthrough
in the eighth and capitalised on it to win 6-3.
Bagnis took two hours and seven minutes to undo the Slovakian in a close match.
The Argentinean contender will take on the top seed, Daniel Brands of Germany, in the second round.
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