Frederico Gil disposes off Joao Souza in the first round – Suisse Open Gstaad 2011
Rated at number 93 in world rankings, Frederico Gil of Portugal won the clash against the Brazilian qualifier, Joao Souza, in the opening round of Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad on Tuesday afternoon.
The competition was staged on the clay courts of the Credit Agricole Arena in Gstaad, Switzerland, with the two contestants battling it out very hard to come out as the winner. It took two hours and nineteen minutes of sweating
play for the Portuguese to settle the final scores at 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to make it into the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
Unseeded in the tournament, Gil dropped the opening set to fall on the back foot early but recovered from the one-set deficit with great mastery, clinching the following two sets in succession to register his 10 victory of the
running ATP season.
Souza was off to a flying start in the contest but his flare gradually faded away as the contest progressed. The Brazilian was phenomenal with his serve game, as he cracked in 18 thudding aces in the matchup and secured 45 out
of 69 first serve points, yet finishing on the losing end.
The contest got intense right from the beginning, with Souza breaking early to lead 2-0. The unseeded Portuguese eventually struck his first serve break after fighting four deuces to level the scores at 2-2, only to be broken again
in the very next game to trail 2-4. The Brazilian went on to close the first set in his favour at 6-4 but lost his steam in the very next set to let his opponent back in the game.
A regular game was witnessed in the second set to take the scores to 4-3, with Gil leading. The Portuguese stung one serve break in the eighth game to bag the second set at 6-3, levelling the matchup with one set a piece. He carried
on his winning impetus in the final set as well but had to go through some serious resistance from his opponent. Souza nailed two serve breaks in the final set but Gil excelled over him with three break point conversions to conclude victory by sealing the
third set at 6-4.
Gil’s victory over Souza sends him into the second round of Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, where he will face the world number 20, Fernando Verdasco of Spain for a place in the quarter-finals.
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