Guillermo Garcia-Lopez battles past Igor Kunitsyn in round one – Serbia Open 2012
Spanish contender, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, needed three sets to outmuscle the Russian veteran, at the Serbia Open 2012 on Tuesday. He joggled up a 7-6(4), 6-7(1), 6-2 score line against the world number 88 to book a spot in the second round at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in Belgrade, Serbia.
Garcia-Lopez stayed on track to claim his third ATP career title after tumbling over the 30-year-old in their third meeting. After earning the limelight in two hours and 26 minutes, the Spaniard not only took lead in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 2-1
against Kunitsyn but also advanced into the round of 16 at this outdoor clay court event.
The La Roda native made a strong start at the SRPC Milan Gale Muskatirovic and drew the first blood in the seventh game to jump to a 5-3 lead. He lost his edge in the 10th game but remained calm and enforced a tie-breaker. However, Garcia-Lopez
edged past the Russian in it and clicked the opener with a 7-6(4) win.
The second set saw tough competition from both players. Kunitsyn swiped in his entire serves after brushing off all three breakpoints he came across. However, he failed to seek any break opportunity and dragged the set to the tie-breaker. The Russian went
berserk in it and conquered the equaliser with a 7-6(1) score line.
Ranked 75th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Garcia-Lopez raised the level of his game in the final set and earned the coveted break in the opening game to take the initial lead. He then maintained his intensity and not only
plucked his entire serves but capitalised on another break opportunity in the fifth game to sealed the decider by winning six games to two.
Up next for the Spaniard is the French rising star, Benoit Paire, who stunned Fabio Fognini with a breadstick to set-up this clash.
The eighth seed, Gilles Muller, will accompany the Spaniard in the second round. He rallied past the Slovakian star, Lukas Lacko, in a three-set thriller in one hour and 42 minutes.
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