Juan Monaco bulldozes Grigor Dimitrov in the opening round – Rakuten Japan Open 2012
Seeded fourth in the tournament draw, Juan Monaco of Argentina carried his brilliant form into Tokyo, as he thrashed Bulgaria’s 60th ranked player, Grigor Dimitrov, in the first round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.
Taking just an hour and three minutes to claim victory, the Argentinean allowed Dimitrov to win just three games till the end, sealing it 6-2, 6-1.
Monaco and Dimitrov held their opening serves to square off the score at 1-1. The Argentinean contender hit blows to Dimitrov in the third and fifth game, consolidating on them to race to a 5-1 lead. The Bulgarian failed to pull any of the two breaks back, losing the opening set 2-6.
The 10th ranked player, Monaco, relied on his solid serves to win most of the points. The Argentinean national banged in three aces and 83 percent of the first serves, pocketing 15 of the 19 points on them. The 28-year-old responded aggressively to Dimitrov’s second deliveries, sealing four of the five on them.
Just like the opener, Monaco and Dimitrov held their serve in the first two games to take the score to 1-1. However, the Argentinean became unstoppable afterwards, striking three times and winning five in a row to close it 6-1.
The 6ft 1in tall neither hit an ace nor made any double fault in the second set. Monaco kept his first serve percentage at 91 and secured 14 of the 21 points on them. The Buenos Aires, Argentina resident did not lose any point on the second ones, clinching both of them. The right-hander put away all the four break threats he came across and availed three of the four chances he created for him.
Monaco grabbed his first hard court title last week, beating French player, Julien Benneteau, in three sets 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the final of the Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur. The Tandil, Argentina born regained his place in the top 10 players of the world with that performance.
Winner of four career crowns so far, Monaco will play 2006 Australian Open finalist, Marcos Baghdatis, in the second round.
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