Gilles Simon, Nicolas Almagro move to the quarter-finals – Open de Nice Côte d’Azur 2012
Gilles Simon beats Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-3
Seeded second at the event, Gilles Simon, did not face much problem in beating the world number 95, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, in twin sets 6-3, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in France on Wednesday. It took the Frenchman just an
hour and 20 minutes to rout Dimitrov.
Simon hit a blow to the Bulgarian in the third game of the match and held his following serve to gain a 3-1 lead. The Frenchman broke Dimitrov again in the ninth to seal it 6-3.
The start of the second set saw both players winning their serve in the first three games to take the score to 2-1 in Simon’s favour. The Frenchman struck in the fourth game and capitalised on it to triumph 6-3.
The 6ft tall, Simon, fired three aces and grabbed 23 of the 30 points on the first serves in the match. He was also good on the return play, as he claimed 15 of the 35 first and 15 of the 33 second reply points. The right-hander evaded both break threats
he faced and availed three of the seven chances he received.
Simon is slated to play Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Nicolas Almagro defeats Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(5), 6-4
Third seed, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, faced limited resistance in beating world number 83, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance to the quarter-final.
Roger-Vasselin drew the first blood, as he broke the Spaniard in the very first game of the match and consolidated on it to attain a 2-0 lead in the first set. Almagro, however, hit back immediately to level the score at 2-2. The rest of the set went with
the serves to take the score to 6-6 and force a tie-breaker. Almagro started strongly to take a 4-1 lead and made the most of it to win 7-6(5).
The Spaniard and Frenchman made a steadier start in the second set, as they did not lose their serve in the first four games to take the score to 2-2. Almagro claimed breakthrough in the fifth and held his subsequent serve to move ahead 4-2. Serving for
the match at 5-4, Almagro did not lose any point and closed it 6-4.
Ranked 14th in the world, Almagro banged in four aces and snatched 32 of the 37 points in the match. The Spaniard will play Belgium’s Steve Darcis, ranked 61st in the world, in the quarters.
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