Frederico Gil upsets Thomaz Bellucci in the opening round – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
One of the early surprises of the tournament was seen on Wednesday, when the Brazilian number one, Thomaz Bellucci, crashed out at the hands of the inferior-ranked Portuguese opponent, Frederico Gil, in the opening round of the
Sony Ericsson Open. Gil took one hour and 32 minutes of play to register his surprise victory in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, marching into the second round of the ATA (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event in Miami, Florida.
It was Gil’s sixth victory on the 2012 ATP World Tour and the first one against Bellucci. He lost their previous encounter which took place in 2009, with the Brazilian winning the stiff battle on his home soil. Gil levelled the
head-to-head series against him at 1-1 and disposed him of the opening round to register an early upset in the mega event.
Currently holding the 85th spot in the ATP World Rankings, Gil delivered 59 per cent of his first serve on target and pocketed 35 out of 49 points on it. Bellucci lagged behind with 21 points and coughed six double faults
to assist his opponent to victory. The Brazilian had 10 break opportunities in the matchup but he frittered away nine of those priceless chances to finish on the losing side in the end. Gil, on the other hand, converted three of his eight break points to reign
supreme over the better-ranked opponent.
The Portuguese contestant nailed the first break point of the day in the fourth game of the match to lead 3-1 early. Bellucci failed to recover from the deficit and squandered away the lone break chance to drop the first set in
the end. Gil carried on his onslaught in the following set also and broke the Brazilian serve in the third game, eventually getting 3-1 ahead of him. He struck once again in the fifth game, only to be broken in the very next game by Bellucci. However, Gil
sustained his one-game lead and served out of the match at 5-4 to get a berth in the second round of Miami Masters.
Gil will face off against the 32nd seed German competitor, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in the second round draw.
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