Filippo Volandri ousts Stephane Robert to reach semis – Morocco Tennis Tour 2012
Top seed, Filippo Volandri, stomped over the French veteran, Stephane Robert, in straight sets at the Morocco Tennis Tour 2012 on Thursday. He nudged up a 6-3, 6-4 score line against the world number 122 to reach the final four at this ATP (Association of
Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event held on the clay courts in Rabat, Morocco.
The world number 60, Volandri, showed his top notch performance at this event and dumped the French contender in their first meeting. After earning this success in 72 minutes, the Italian assertively advanced into the last four.
Volandri high-spiritedly entered the Moroccan red clay courts and after breaking Robert’s serve twice early on, he leaped at 5-1. Despite losing his serve in the seventh game, the Italian held his serve once more and booked the set with a 6-3 victory. He
lost his serve once but converted two out of three break opportunities to earn the glory.
Ranked 62 spots above his rival in the ATP rankings, Volandri kept momentum floating into the proceeding set and got the desiderated break in the opening game. Regardless of losing his edge in the very next game, he stayed focused in the match and kept remaining
serves without facing any barrier. The Italian got the breakthrough in the ninth game and pocketed the set by winning six games to four.
Next in queue for the highest ranked player of the tournament is the Russian challenger, Andrey Kuznetsov who crushed the Algerian wild card entrant, Lamine Ouahab, in straight sets to set-up this meeting. The Russian took 68 minutes to outclass Ouahab,
who is ranked 773rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings.
The sixth seed, Martin Klizan, will join the Italian in the final four. He slaughtered the Spanish lucky loser, Guillermo Olaso, with a bagel to occupy this spot. The Slovak warded off the only breakpoint he faced and cashed in five out of six break chances
to seal the victory with a 6-0, 6-2 score line. Klizan capped the match by firing five ferocious aces and impressively availed 24 out of 28 points on his first serve share.
Next challenge for the Slovak is Germany’s Simon Gruel who stunned the second seed, Pere Riba, in three sets to earn the spotlight. The 30-year-old lost his serve three times but broke the Spaniard’s serve five times to formulate a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 score line
in two hours and 42 minutes.
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