Jan Hajek edges past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez into the last eight – Rai Open 2012 CH
World number 140, Jan Hajek of Czech Republic, made a great comeback after receiving a bagel in the opener to upset second seed, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in three sets 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(1) in the second round at the Rai Open in Rome,
Italy on Wednesday.
It took the Czech two hours and seven minutes to post a win over the world number 79.
Garcia-Lopez was flawless in the first set, as he did not lose any game, breaking Hajek three times and winning six in a row to claim it 6-0.
The Spaniard was dominant in all departments of the game, as he pocketed seven of the 10 first and six of the eight second serve points in the opening set. He won most of the points on the returns as well, clinching seven of the
nine first and five of the six second reply points.
Garcia-Lopez could not carry the winning momentum into the second set, as he dropped his serve in the opening game and failed to pull it back, trailing 0-2. The Spaniard received another blow at 4-2 but this time he struck back
to reduce the deficit to 3-5. Hajek served out the set in the 10th game, bagging it 6-4.
The Czech fired a single ace and 76 percent of the first deliveries, snatching 18 of the 25 points on them in the second set. The 5ft 11in tall followed an aggressive approach on the second returns, as he converted seven of the
10 of them into points.
Unlike the first two sets, Garcia-Lopez and Hajek made a steady start in the decider, holding their serve in the first seven games to take the score to 4-3 in the favour of the former. The Spaniard delivered a blow at that moment
but Hajek responded immediately to equalise the score at 5-5. They won their serve in the next two games to take it to a tie-breaker. Hajek played outstandingly in the crunch situation, racing to a 6-0 lead. Garcia-Lopez succeeded in winning one point but
the Czech closed it 7-1.
Hajek is slated to face either Florent Serra or Andrey Kuznetsov in the quarter-final.
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