Feliciano Lopez downs Michael Lammer to clear the opening round – Suisse Open Gstaad 2011
World number 24, Feliciano Lopez of Spain stood victorious against the local competitor, Michael Lammer, to clear the opening round of Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, being played at the Credit Agricole Arena in Gstaad, Switzerland,
on Tuesday afternoon.
The thrilling contest took two hours and twenty three minutes to conclude, with the fifth seeded Spaniard settling the final scores at 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3, to move into the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour 250 tournament. Lopez took the opener with ease but the Swiss competitor made a strong comeback in the following set to bring excitement in the game by dragging it to the third set. The Spaniard had no much trouble in finishing off the matchup to
the dismay of the local crowd and continued his voyage at Suisse Open Gstaad.
The most eminent feature of the Spaniard’s game was his magnificent serve, which he used to perfection in the matchup. Lopez fired 18 cracking aces and reeled off 40 out of 51 first serve points en route to victory. He also coughed
six double faults in the matchup but kept on winning points on regularity to remain on top of the game all the way.
29-year-old Lopez started off the opening set with a cracking serve break in the very first game to lead 2-0. Lammer squandered off two break opportunities in the second game and remained on the back foot in the rest of the opener.
The fifth seeded Spaniard carried on his early lead to consolidate his position in the matchup and secured 16 out of 20 first serve points to close out the opening set at 6-4.
No serve breaks were seen from both men in the next set, which took the scores to 4-4. A trade of serve breaks from the two contestants took the second set into a tie breaker round and Lammer cashed in his opportunity to level
the contest by bagging the set at 7-6(4).
Tide turned in the final set again and Lopez broke early to lead 3-0 to get the required momentum. Lammer failed to recover from the early damage done by the serve break and eventually succumbed to his opponent at 3-6 to let him
in the second round of the tournament.
Lopez will take on his fellow compatriot, Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the second round of Suisse Open Gstaad, for a place in the quarter-finals.
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