Juan Ignacio Chela outclasses John Isner to seal tie for Argentina at Power Horse World Team Cup
Argentina’s dream run at the Power Horse World Team Cup continued, as the world number 43, Juan Ignacio Chela won the encounter against 39th ranked John Isner in the round robin stage on Thursday. The Argentine outclassed
Isner in straight sets 6-1, 7-6(1), to seal the third consecutive tie in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The unbeaten Team Argentina has already defeated Kazakhstan 3-0, and then Sweden 2-1, before taking down the strong American squad. The Argentines drew first blood when Juan Monaco took down world number 10, Mardy Fish of the United
States in straight set 7-6(4), 7-5, in the first singles rubber of the competition. Chela’s victory over Isner concluded the tie for Argentina, as it qualifies for the final of the World Team Cup.
31-year-old Argentine veteran displayed his vintage form to dispense out Isner from the contest to bring home victory. Chela was outstanding in the opener, losing just one game, but had to toil hard to seal victory in the second
set tie breaker. The American battle hard to make a comeback in the second set and stretched Chela to his limits but had to submit the game to the hard hitting Argentine in the end.
Chela was magnificent with his serve, delivering 85 per cent on target and conceding just one double fault in the entire game. He crafted seven break chances and converted three of them en route to victory, while denying Isner
five times to crack in a serve break.
The American had a sloppy start to the game, dropping his serve early and got under pressure to spill out a number of unforced errors. Isner had three break points in the opening set but frittered away all of them to remain at
a disadvantage. The Argentine struck early break to the American serve to lead 2-0 and then launched a series of attacks to his opponent. Chela reeled off 29 out of 46 total points in the set and stung two more break points to bag the opener at 6-1, getting
one up in the contest.
The following set witnessed more intense tennis as the two men battled it out to come on top. None of the players registered a serve break in the second set, dragging it into a decisive tie breaker round. Chela proved merciless
in the tie breaker, dropping just one point and racing away to victory at 7-6(1) to seal the tie for Argentina. The unbeaten Argentine squad now qualifies for the final of the World Team Cup and is regarded as the hot favourite for winning the trophy.
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