Juan Monaco ousts Tatsuma Ito to reach quarters – US Men’s Clay Court Championships 2012
Fourth seed, Juan Monaco, stomped over the Japanese rising star, Tatsuma Ito, in straight sets at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships 2012 on Thursday. He penned down a 6-3, 6-3 score line against the world number 98 to book a spot in the quarter-finals
at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) clay court event held in Houston, United States.
The Argentinean number two stomped over Ito through exceptional forehands form his arsenal of skills. He got the better of the Japanese after converting four out of 10 break opportunities to his advantage in their first encounter.
Monaco made a nervy entry at the River Oaks Country Club and suffered the first blow in the third game to go 1-2 down. However he made a quick counterattack and snatched his break back in the very next game. The Argentinean held his entire serves with conviction
and capitalised on another break chance in the eighth game, ultimately sealing the opener by winning six games to three.
Ranked 16th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Monaco carried his rhythm in the following set and earned the coveted break in the fifth game to leap at 4-2. He smoothly held his entire serves and after breaking Ito’s serve once
more, the Argentinean clinched the set with a 6-3 score line.
Summing up the seed’s performance, Monaco jolted down a slightly higher first serve share of 52 per cent as opposed to the Japanese’s 50 per cent and brilliantly availed 23 out of 31 points on it. He also superbly defended six out of seven breakpoints he
encountered.
Next in line for Monaco is the fifth seed, Kevin Anderson, who rallied past the American star, Sam Querrey, in a three set thriller to set-up this meeting.
The second seed, John Isner, bounced back to accompany Monaco in the final eight. He broke Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos serve three times to formulate a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 success in two hours and 13 minutes. Isner also fired 16 aces and clobbered a better
first serve share of 63 per cent as opposed to the Argentinean’s 59 per cent to dominate throughout the match.
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