Fernando Verdasco pounces over Ivan Dodig to reach third round – Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
Seeded 13th in this clay court event, Fernando Verdasco, made an epic comeback from a set down to outmuscle the Croatian star, Ivan Dodig, in three sets at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012 on Tuesday. He summed up a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory against
the Bosnia-Herzegovina born to power into the round of 16 at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Masters 1000 event taking place in Monaco.
The Spanish veteran got the better of Dodig in almost two hours after displaying superb abilities from his box of tricks. Battling each other for the first time, Verdasco not only edged in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 1-0 against the Croat but also
laboured into the third round at this clay court event.
Dodig high-spiritedly entered the Monte Carlo Country Club and held his serve in the opening game to take the initial lead. He continued hammering powerful forehands and swiped in his entire serves without facing any breakpoint. The Croat cashed in the lone
break chance in the eighth game and bagged the opener with a 6-3 win.
The left-handed Spaniard changed his strategy in the follow-up game and managed to keep his entire serves after dusting away all five breakpoints he faced. Verdasco capitalised on one out of two break opportunities in the sixth game and pulled out the equaliser
with a 6-3 score line.
Ranked 19th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Verdasco went berserk in the final set and got the coveted break in the opening game. Despite losing his serve in the very next game, the Spaniard unleashed barrage of groundstrokes
to reel off the proceeding five games in a row and sealed the decider with a breadstick.
All in all, the Spanish challenger overcame seven aces hammered by Dodig. He also defended five out of seven breakpoints he faced and converted five out of seven break chances to his advantage. Verdasco also manifested a much better first serve share of
80 per cent as opposed to the Croat’s 59 per cent and superbly availed 46 out of 70 points on it.
Next challenge for Verdasco is the fourth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who trashed the German veteran, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in straight sets to set-up this meeting.
The world number three, Andy Murray, will accompany Verdasco in the third round. He crushed Serbia’s Viktor Troicki with a bagel in 67 minutes to progress.
Tags: