Igor Andreev pounces over Albert Montanes in round one – Grand Prix Hassan II 2012
Russian rising star, Igor Andreev, tumbled over Spanish contestant, Albert Montanes, in straight sets at the Grand Prix Hassan II 2012 on Monday. He nudged up a 6-3, 6-3 victory against the world number 69 to secure a spot in the round of 16 at this ATP
(Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in Casablanca, Morocco.
Andreev showed solid tennis to oust the 31-year-old in one hour and 16 minutes. Both challengers were contesting each other for the sixth time and after earning this success, the Russian not only avenged his loss at the Acapulco ATP event four years ago
but also improved to a 5-1 record in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Montanes.
The 28-year-old high-spiritedly entered Complexe Al Amal and held his serve in the second game to level the scores at 1-1. He then maintained consistency in his game and after wiping out the last four games in a row, he clinched the opener with a 6-3 score
line.
Ranked 100th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Andreev kept momentum running into the following set and held his opening serve to take the initial lead. He held his composure and not only swiped in his remaining serves but
got the breakthrough in the sixth game to seal the set by winning six games to three.
All in all, Andreev fully capitalised on seven double faults and many errors the Spaniard committed. He also produced a better first serve share of 54 per cent as compared to Montanes’ 48 per cent and amazingly availed 26 out of 31 points on it.
Next challenge for the Russian is the fourth seed, Denis Istomin, who received a first round bye after being the top four seed at this clay court event.
Montanes’ compatriot, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, received a better fate later that day. He battled past the eighth seed, Fabio Fognini, in a three set thriller to book a place in the second round. Garcia-Lopez blocked six out of nine breakpoints he came across
and broke his rival’s serve four times to formulate a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 success.
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