Gastao Elias defeats Andre Ghem in the quarter-finals – Rio De Janeiro Challenger 2012 CH
Ranked 174th in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Gastao Elias, trounced the local challenger, Andre Ghem, in the quarter-finals of the Rio De Janeiro Challenger 2012 held at the courts of Brazil. He consolidated his three-set
success, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, in nearly two hours and 41 minutes on Friday.
The participants battled against one another in the final round of Brazil F1 in the year 2010. The Portugal native gave a straight set defeat 6-3, 6-4 to Ghem and declared himself as the undisputed champion.
The right-hander, Elias, displayed his superior run of form since the start of the opener and boldly nudged forward and drew the first blood. He cashed his rival’s initial serve in the third game and marked a 3-1 lead. Nonetheless,
Ghem gradually picked pace and he levelled down the score line to 3-all in the sixth and eighth game respectively. The local challenger took a flying start toward the end and stole the opener with a 6-4 lead.
In the second set, the 21-year-old Portuguese was determined to avenge his defeat in the previous set and he cashed his serve in the third game. However, he did not let the Brazilian to secure the front this time round. As the
game progressed, the score line evened out to 5-all in the 10th game, when Elias was unable to retain his serve. Nonetheless, he nudged forward and responded by dissolving his challenger’s serve in the very next game and ultimately terminated the
second set with a 7-5 score.
In the decider, the 30-year-old, Ghem, seemed to have lost all his passion. The Portuguese junior cashed the opportunity and did not let him retain his serve the entire time in the set. Initially, he clinched the first two games
and marked a 2-love lead. He beautifully served with powerful forehands and capitalized on the win with a bread stick.
World number 305, Ghem, bombarded his opponent with eight aces but had average initial serve of 48 percent with 35 of 52 first and 26 of 56 second delivery points. He lost the lead as he just managed to snatch away three of 12
serve breaks but his competitor secured six of 20. Elias responded back by a 47 percent first serve, converting 28 of 46 points.
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