Gilles Simon topples Jurgen Melzer to advance to last-16 – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Seeded 13th at the event, Gilles Simon of France prevailed over 22nd seed, Jurgen Melzer of Luxembourg, in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-4 in the third round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Sunday.
Simon and Melzer put on a notable serving display in the first set, as they held till the end to equalise the score at 6-6 and force a tie-breaker. Simon got off to the best possible start, racing to a 5-0 lead. Melzer covered
up but the Frenchman succeeded in claiming two more points and grabbed it 7-6(5).
The right-hander, Simon, hit two aces and 58 percent of the first serves, converting 14 of the 21 of them into points. Nevertheless, the Frenchman gave an extra ordinary performance on the second deliveries, as he did not lose
even a single point on the, clinching all 15. In comparison, Melzer won just four of the 10 second serve points in the opener.
It looked like the match would go to into decisive round, as Melzer began strongly in the second set to build a 3-0 lead. However, Simon did not allow it happen, breaking back and squaring off the score at 3-3. Melzer held his
serve in the seventh game to once again claim a lead. The Frenchman pumped up the accelerator and allowed Melzer to win only one point after that, closing the second set 6-4.
Simon had a below average first serve percentage at 39 but he won eight of the nine points on them. The 6ft tall attacked Melzer’s second deliveries, converting six of the nine of them into points. The Frenchman could not save
the only break point he faced but compensated that by capitalising on two of the three of his own in the second set.
The Neuchatel, Switzerland resident took just an hour and 38 minutes to beat Melzer.
Simon is slated to meet fourth seed, Andy Murray of Great Britain in the next match. Murray received a walkover as his opponent, Milos Raonic of Canada, could not make it to the court due to a sprain in right ankle.
Murray said that his schedule won’t be affected with his opponent’s withdrawal. The Brit shared, “People pull out all the time. It doesn’t throw you off as long as you keep to the same schedule as if you had played the match and
won.”
Simon has remained winless against Murray in their last eight meetings and trails 1-8 in the head to head record.
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