Flavio Cipolla overcomes Yassine Idmbarek to reach round two – Grand Prix Hassan II 2012
Italian competitor, Flavio Cipolla, stomped over the local wild card entrant, Yassine Idmbarek, in a see-saw match at the Grand Prix Hassan II 2012 on Tuesday. He nudged up a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 victory against the 25-year-old to labour into the second round at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) clay court tournament taking place in Casablanca, Morocco.
Cipolla took down the world number 1064 in one hour and 42 minutes after displaying tremendous skills at the Complexe Al Amal. After overpowering Idmbarek in their first encounter, the 28-year-old assertively secured a spot in the round of 16.
The Italian veteran blasted into the Moroccan clay courts and went on a four-game rampage before Idmbarek could snatch a break back. The Italian then stroke out the last two games and pulled out the opener with a breadstick.
The frustrated wild card on the other side found his rhythm in the second set. After suffering the first blow in the opening game and going 0-2 down, Idmbarek unleashed his true colours and pocketed the following six games in a row, sealing the equaliser with a 6-2 win.
The match was balanced at a knife edge but Cipolla was the one who would have regained his earlier momentum and take the early lead. He blasted powerful groundstrokes to wind up the opening four games in a row before the Moroccan could hold on. The Italian then bagged the last two games and clinched the opener with an exceptional 6-1 score line.
Overall, the 85th ranked Cipolla prevailed throughout the battle. He took full advantage of the six double faults Idmbarek’s spilled and cashed in seven out of 13 break chances to earn the limelight. The Italian clobbered a lower first serve share of 63 per cent as compared to wild card’s 78 per cent but impressively clicked 23 out of 39 points on it.
Up next for Cipolla is the second seed, Alexandr Dolgopolov, who received a bye into the second round after being a top four seed of the tournament. The Italian needs to improve his defensive skills in order to outclass the seed.
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