Juan Monaco outlasts Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for final showdown – Mercedes Cup 2012
Second seed, Juan Monaco, got the better of the Spanish contender, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in a three-set mouth-watering match at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Monday. He summed up a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory against the world number 87 to power into the title-round
at this outdoor clay court tournament taking place in Stuttgart, Germany.
The Argentinean star, Monaco, lost his concentration in the second set but stayed focused and carved out the victory in their fifth encounter. After stealing the show in two hours and 40 minutes, Monaco not only extended his lead in the FedEx ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 4-1 against the 29-year-old but also moved a step closer towards his third year-to-date title.
“It was a crazy match. I served twice for the match and I lost many match points,” the ecstatic Argentine was quoted in a post-match press conference. “I was a little disappointed. But tennis is like this. You always have a chance to win. I’m very happy
the way I fought back today. I made many mistakes, but then I was focused, thinking about winning and I’m happy about that.”
Ranked 14th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Monaco comfortably entered the Tennis Club Weissenhof and held his opening serve with conviction. He maintained consistency in his game and swiped his remaining serves without facing
any barrier. The Argentine got the breakthrough in the eighth game and pulled out the opener with a 6-3 score line.
Garcia-Lopez on the other end hit back and got in the game. He cashed in the lone break chance in the second game and leaped to a 3-0 lead. The Spaniard held his remaining serves through brilliant defensive skills and sealed the equaliser by winning six
games to three.
The higher ranked contender sought his rhythm again in the final set which count the most. He went berserk and reeled off the opening five games in a row before Garcia-Lopez could come on the score sheet. Despite losing his following two serves and levelling
the scores at 5-5, Monaco remained calm and capitalised on another break opportunity in the last game, subsequently clicking the decider with a 7-5 win.
Next in queue for Monaco is the top seed, Janko Tipsarevic from Serbia.
The world number eight lost his serve three times but capitalised on three out of six break chances to formulate a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 score line.
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