Joao Sousa outfoxes Ivan Navarro in the second round – Trnava Challenger 2012 CH
Third seeded, Joao Sousa, secured the top spot after defeating the Spaniard, Ivan Navarro, and successfully cruised through the second round of the Trnava Challenger 2012. Sousa summed up his 6-2, 6-4 win on
the eve of Thursday.
The duo encountered each other for the fourth time and the Portuguese contender levelled out the head-to-head series with 2-2. Previously they faced each other in the first round of the Kosice Challenger and
Sousa jolted down his 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win.
The world number 220, Navarro, began a sloppy start in the opener and was unable to hold his initial serve. Sousa grabbed the opportunity, clinching the initial three games without facing any serve break and
secured a lead by 3-love. The Spanish struggled hard and fortunately broke his rival’s serve in the fourth game but it was impossible for him to dominate. As the game advanced, the Portuguese nudged forward and without any resistance closed the set with a
6-2 loss.
The 30-year-old right-hander held 52 percent initial serve accuracy bagging away 10 of 16 first and three of 15 second delivery points. The Spanish senior capitalized even the single serve break presented to
him, whereas his opponent bagged away three of the six. Sousa displayed 59 percent first serve, securing six of 10 first and six of seven second delivery points.
In the second set Spanish veteran drew the first blood and brought the score line to 2-1. Both the players keenly eyed the winning spot and battled hard to win it. Due to this, the score line evened out three
times, after every successive game. Towards the end, the 23-year-old busted his rival’s serve and concluded the match with a 6-4 win.
Both players had quite similar initial serve precision but the right-hander Portuguese snatched 24 of 37 first and five of 10 second serve points. He was able to strike the lead because he won the single serve
break presented to him and his contender could convert any.
For the next round in the ATP Challenger, Sousa will battle against the Frenchman, Stephane Robert. In the earlier match, he defeated Dusan Lojda, 6-2, 6-1.
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