Filippo Volandri upsets Marcel Granollers in second round – BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2011
Fourth seed to exit the event, third seeded Marcel Granollers came crashing out of the 2011 BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy when he met Italian Filippo Volandri in the second round of the event on Thursday, 22nd September
on the clay courts of Bucharest, Romania.
Destroying the higher ranked Spaniard, Volandri secured an easy 6-1, 6-3 win in only seventy six minutes.
Coming into the match with a 1-2 head-to-head score, Volandri was the underdog that everyone expected to be washed away against the Spaniard. However, defying all odds, the Italian destroyed Granollers in two simple sets securing
a quarterfinal berth and bringing the head-to-head to even terms.
Volandri called the coin toss and opted to serve first. A successful hold of serve between the two put the scoreboard at 1-1. An expected opening for the match, though what followed was beyond expectations. Standing at 2-1, Volandri
broke his opponent twice in back-to-back return games extending his lead to 5-1. All set to serve out the set, Volandri sent powerful forehands down the line and clinched the seventh game without losing a single point, securing a breadstick win for himself.
Despite hitting no aces and one double fault, Volandri played superbly, recording an impressive 70 percent win on his 83 percent first serve contributing to a total of 29 points win out of 45.
Leading the set score 1-0, Volandri started the second set on a superior note. Breaking his opponent in the very first game, Volandri rushed to an early 2-0 lead. However, determined to go down fighting, Granollers soon broke back
in the fourth game after holding service in the third to bring the score to even terms. The scoreboard stood level after six games as well. However, breaking Granollers once more, Volandri stood on a 5-3 lead. Quick to wrap up his straight sets victory, Volandri’s
impenetrable defence and aggressive offence earned him the coveted breakpoint in the ninth game, sealing his 6-3 win and in effect his straight sets win.
The Italian now moves on ahead to play Brazilian Joao Souza in the quarterfinal round. Souza moved into the final eight after bouncing back from a set down against Romanian wildcard entrant, Adrian Ungur to secure a 4-6, 7-6(6),
6-1 victory. Blessed to move into the final eight, Souza had to battle it out for nearly three hours converting a mere four of sixteen breakpoint opportunities to his advantage despite hitting a whopping thirteen aces.
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