Ivo Minar trounces Roberto Bautista-Agut in opening round – Skistar Swedish Open 2012
Czech qualifier, Ivo Minar, tumbled the Spanish contender, Roberto Bautista-Agut, in straight sets at the Skistar Swedish Open 2012 on Tuesday. He clobbered a 7-5, 7-6(4) victory against the world number 122 to book a spot in the round of 16 at this ATP
(Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Bastad, Sweden.
The 28-year-old failed to brush off all three breakpoints she faced but capitalise on four out of 15 break opportunities to outclass Bautista-Agut in their first meeting. After earning the spotlight in one hour and 42 minutes, Minar not only took lead in
the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 1-0 against the Spaniard but also remained on track to bid for his maiden career title.
Minar thundered into this outdoor clay court tournament and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. He lost his edge in the very next game but broke the Spaniard’s serve again in the third game to take the upper hand. Despite levelling
the scores in the fourth game, the Czech remained focused and carved out the opener with a 7-5 win after cashing in another break chance in the 11th game.
216th ranked Czech lost his track towards the following set and suffered the initial blow in the fourth game to fall at 1-4. However, he maintained his composure and recovered in the ninth game. The set went to a tie-breaker where Minar cruised
to a 5-2 lead before pulling out the victory with a 7-6(4) score line.
All in all, the Prague-born Minar was the better player throughout the match. He nudged up a higher first serve share of 72 per cent as compared to his opponent’s 69 per cent and acceptably marked 32 out of 49 points on it.
Up next for the qualifier is second seeded Nicolas Almagro who received a bye into the second round after being the top four players at this tournament.
The seventh seed, Filippo Volandri, will accompany Minar in the following set. He was broken once but cashed in four out of five break chances to overpower the local wildcard entrant, Michael Ryderstedt, in 69 minutes.
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