Jarkko Nieminen, Albert Montanes reach the second round – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
Jarkko Nieminen beats Javier Marti 6-4, 6-1
Ranked 47th in the world, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland scored an easy win over Spaniard, Javier Marti, in the first round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in Spain on Monday. Nieminen dumped Marti in straight sets 6-4,
6-1, requiring merely an hour and 23 minutes to complete the win.
Nieminen and Marti broke each other number of times in the opener. The Finn made the first strike in the second game to take a 2-0 advantage but Marti did not take much time to even out the score at 2-2. Nieminen hit a blow again
in the sixth and this time he consolidated on it to attain a 5-2 lead. The left-hander failed to serve out the set in the ninth game but managed to close it out at 6-4.
The Finn made an exactly similar start in the second set, as he broke Marti in the second game to move up 2-0 and this he did not let away the advantage, grabbing three more in a row to race to a 5-0 lead. The Spaniard held his
serve in the sixth game but could not break back, losing it 1-6.
Nieminen is drawn to meet Eduardo Schwank of Argentina in the second round.
Albert Montanes defeats Gerard Granollers-Pujol 7-5, 6-2
World number 69, Albert Montanes, toppled Gerard Granollers-Pujol in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 in an all Spanish encounter to get through to the round of 32.
Montanes and Gerard Granollers-Pujol broke each other in all of the first four games of the opener, taking the score to 2-2. Both players held their serve in the next six to equalise it at 5-5. Montanes struck in the 11th
game and capitalised on it to win 7-5.
The 31-year-old, Montanes, snatched a break in the opening game of the second set and held his following serve to attain a 2-0 lead. The Spaniard struck once more and consolidated on the strike to seal it 6-2.
Montanes fired three aces but also committed the same number of double faults in the match. The Barcelona, Spain resident inflicted most of the damage to his opponent with the help of fine second returns, grabbing 12 of the 17
points on them. Montanes converted five of the six break points he received.
The local player took an hour and 31 minutes to outmuscle Granollers-Pujol.
Montanes will take on the winner of Bernard Tomic and Ernests Gulbis in the round of 32.
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