Joao Sousa battles past Evgeny Korolev into the main draw – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
Sixth seed, Joao Sousa of Portugal, secured his place in the main draw, after overcoming Kazakh, Evgeny Korolev, in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the final qualifier at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in Spain on Sunday. It took
the Portuguese almost two hours to come out victorious from a close contest.
Sousa and Korolev made a stable start, as both of them held serve in the first seven games of the opener, taking the score to 4-3 in the former’s favour. The Portuguese made first breakthrough of the contest in the eighth game
and served out the set at 5-3.
The right-hander was outstanding on serve, bombarding five aces and winning 16 of the 18 points on the first deliveries. Sousa also gave an exceptional performance on second returns, as he snatched four of the five points on them
in the opener.
In the second set, the Portuguese and Korolev started by breaking each other in the first two games and levelling the score at 1-1. It went with the serve in the next eight to even out the proceedings at 5-5. Korolev broke the
ice finally, as he grabbed two consecutive games to capture it 7-5.
The Kazakh hit a single ace and the same number of double fault in the second set. Ranked 307th in the world, Korolev impressed with his first serves and second returns, as he bagged 19 of the 24 and 10 of the 17 points
on them respectively. The 24-year-old failed to save the one break point he faced but compensated by converting two of the six he received.
Fighting back at the start of decider, Sousa snatched breaks in the third and fifth game, racing to a 4-1 lead. Korolev got one back, as he hit a blow in the sixth and reduced the trail to 2-4. However, rest of the match went with
the serve and Sousa claimed the final set 6-4.
Sousa banged in three aces and 63 percent of the first deliveries, capturing 12 of the 20 points on them. The Portuguese had a better conversion rate on the second serves, as he won eight of the 12. In comparison, Korolev was himself
to blame, committing four double faults and putting in just 58 percent of the first deliveries.
The 140th ranked, Souza, will play world number 90, Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, in the opening match of the main round.
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