Frederico Gil dodges upset in first round; knocks out Jose Pereira – BVA Open 2011 CH
Fourth seeded Portuguese Frederico Gil squared-off against the Brazilian, Jose Pereira, in the first round of the BVA Open Challenger tournament, contested in Brazil, on Monday October 24th. The first meeting between
the two contenders lasted for an hour and forty-seven minutes and was one of the most exciting encounters of the tournament. Finally it was the World No.96 Portuguese who held on his nerves and won the match in straight sets with a cumulative score of 7-6(5),
7-6(2).
The Portuguese had lost four of his last nine matches while his opponent had lost three but the overall superior ranking and level of tournaments played had enough variance that clearly placed the fourth seeded as a hot favourite
to win the match.
It was a complete miss-match on the paper but a very close battle at the pitch. People gathered in numbers to support their home youngster who didn’t disappointed them at all and gave his best shot to pull up a major upset.
Two-setter match that could have gone either way went the right way at the end. A slight lapse of concentration by the in-experienced at the ending moments of both sets lead to his failure in the match. The experience of the Portuguese
played a major role in the match and clinched him a second round spot.
Gil struck an ace in the first set but the main exciting feature of the match was that both players just won one opportunity and converted it in their favour and didn’t allowed the balance of the match to break at any stage. The
neck to neck battle continued for the first twelve sets that pushed the set into the tie-breaker.
Both registered very impressive first and second serve success rates and turned a total miss-match into an epic encounter. Fourth seeded clinched the first set with a minute difference of just five points; 26-year-old fourth seeded
won 45 points whilst his opponent won 40.
The second set was equally interesting and close as the first set. The composure of the youngster in the middle of the set is worth applauding because he saved six breakpoints and kept the latch alive. Both couldn’t break their
opponent’s serve and the enthralling serve display stunned the crowd who loved every bit of it. They roared at each point their home boy earned and tried to put pressure on the fourth seeded.
Portuguese won 43 points in the second and after another close battle won the match with a difference of just six points. Crowd applauded the effort from their home boy who put up a scintillating show at the pitch.
Frederico Gil faces-off against Eduardo Schwank of Argentina in the second round of the tournament.
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