Juan Carlos Ferrero outlasts ninth seed Gael Monfils in second round – US Open 2011
Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero struggles past Frenchman Gael “LaMonf” Monfils in a see-saw battle in their second round match at the 2011 Us Open at Flushing Meadows on Thursday, 1st September. Ferrero took nearly five
hours to secure a 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 win over the ninth seeded Frenchman.
The 2003 finalist here, started his match against the highest ranked Frenchman on a strong note. Matching blow for blow, Ferrero was able to keep up with athletic Monfils, keeping the score tied for the first ten games. The former
world number one even managed to break the Frenchman in the eleventh game, all poised to serve out the set at 6-5. However, Monfils was not about to go down without a fight. Snatching back the break, LaMonf pushed the set into a tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker was a neck-to-neck run for survival between the two pros. Not letting up, the two players kept the score tied for ten points before Ferrero capitalised on a mini-break to clinch a 7-5 win and go one up in the set
score.
Although Monfils outmatched Ferrero in every set statistic, the twenty unforced errors he hit to the Spaniard’s fourteen weighed him down as he lost the tiebreaker to trail in the set score.
Down but not out, Monfils bounced back in the second set. Although Ferrero once more locked the Frenchman in a toe-to-toe fight, Monfils was able to clinch a lucky break in the twelfth game as to secure a 7-5 win and level the
set score.
With one set a piece, the Spaniard and the Frenchman were determined to bag the third set. Locked in yet another closely matched run, the pair forced the set into the second tiebreaker of the game. However, this time around after
ten points, it was LaMonf who cashed in on a mini-break to clinch a 7-5 win and one set lead in the set score.
However, the lead was very short-lived as Ferrero turned the tables in the fourth set. What started off as another neck-to-neck run, turned into a simple 6-4 win for the Spaniard as he rode a single break point opportunity to level
the set score.
Carrying his form from the fourth set, Ferrero started off the deciding fifth set on a high note as he broke Monfils early on to go 2-0 in the set extending it to 4-2 moments later. Standing at 5-4, Ferrero lost no points in the
tenth game as he served out the set to secure a 6-4 win and ensure his survival at the event.
Ferrero moves on ahead to play 31st seed Marcel Granollers in the third round. Granollers enjoyed a straight sets 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin.
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