Guillermo Alcaide battles past Conor Niland in the second round of the Status Athens Open
24-year-old Guillermo Alcaide of Spain made an upset at Athens, Greece, when he outplayed the eighth seed, Conor Niland of Ireland in the second round of the Status Athens Open on Thursday. The Spanish toiled for two hours and seven minutes before he overwhelmed his tough opponent 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4, to book a quarter-final berth at the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event.
The action-packed three-set contest gave a treat to watch for the local crowd at Athens. A number of momentum swings were observed in the matchup but the Spaniard proved out to be the better of the two contestants. Alcaide raced passed the Irishman in the opener though a terrific comeback from the Irish halted the Spaniard in his run. The Irish then won the second set forcing a third decisive set. The Spaniard kept his nerve in the final set of the game and secured an assertive victory over the top seeded competitor.
The opener was totally a one-sided affair with Alcaide dominating all the way through. Although the Spaniard delivered just 54 per cent of his first serve on target, he collected 10 out of 13 points on it to keep one step ahead of his opponent. He stung the first serve break of the match in the fourth game and then held his serve to get to a 4-1 lead.
A clear lack of rhythm and shot precision was observed in Niland’s game, as he coughed up a number of unforced errors to exacerbate his position in the opener. He dropped his serve for the second time in the sixth game and was pushed out of the first set as Alcaide bagged it at 6-1.
An easy straight sets victory for Alcaide was anticipated by the tennis fans but a major momentum swing took place when Niland came out firing in the second set. The Irishman reeled 20 from 23 first serve points and cracked three rapid aces to turn the pressure on the Spaniard. Alcaide kept going with his aggressive game play and took the second set to a decisive tie breaker. The Spanish lost his focus in the tie breaker round and allowed Niland to clinch the second set at 7-6(5).
Intensity continued mounting in the final set as the two contestants threw their best at each other to take victory. Niland broke serve once but two break points from Alcaide, along with five fiery aces marked an end to the contest at 6-4. The Spaniard will now have to pass through the fourth seed German, Matthias Bachinger to book a semi-final berth at the Status Athens Open. Bachinger outclassed Roberto Bautista-Agut in the second round to meet Alcaide in the quarter-final draws at Athens.
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