Fernando Verdasco bounces over Gilles Muller to reach round three – French Open 2012
In a battle between two left-handed stars, 14th seeded Fernando Verdasco made an epic comeback to triumph over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, in a four-set mouth-watering match at the Roland Garros 2012 on Wednesday. He
summed up a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory against the world number 54 to power into the second round at this major clay court tournament held in France.
The former world number seven, Verdasco, showed brilliant tennis to stomp over the Luxembourgian in their second meeting. The players last fought each other at the Australian Open seven years ago and after earning this success,
Verdasco improved to a 2-0 record in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series against the 29-year-old.
Muller high-spiritedly entered the court number three and drew the first blood in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Despite squandering his edge in the very next game, he not only imposed a tie-breaker but dominated in it to
clinch the opener with a 7-6(5) score line in 68 minutes.
The 28-year-old re-structured in the follow-up set and got in action. He endured the initial loss in the fifth game and went 2-3 down. However, Verdasco made a fascinating reply and wiped out the last four games in a row, eventually
sealing the set by winning six games to three in 37 minutes.
Currently ranked 16th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Verdasco maintained his intensity in the third set and went on a four-game killing spree before the Luxembourgian could hold on. He then kept
remaining serves carved out the victory with a 6-2 score line in another 37 minutes.
Verdasco’s skills were fully sharpened in the fourth set and after breaking his opponent’s serve twice, he cruised to a 5-1 lead. The Spaniard held his serve once again and pocketed the set with a 6-2 win.
Next up for the Spaniard is the 22nd seed, Andreas Seppi, who battled past Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in a five-set thriller to set up this battle.
The 11th seed, Gilles Simon, will accompany the Spaniard in the round of 32. He took down the American wildcard entrant, Brian Baker, in five sets to progress.
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