Juan Monaco prevails over Pavol Cervenak in the quarter-finals – Mercedes Cup 2012
Argentina’s second seeded contestant, Juan Monaco, cruised to the last four-stage by beating the world number 206, Pavol Cervenak, in straight sets 6-1, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany on Friday. It
took Monaco one hour and 36 minutes to pull this win over Cervenak.
The Argentinean made the best possible start, as he broke the Slovakian in the second and fourth game, consolidating on both of them to race to a 4-0 lead. Cervenak tried to comeback in the set by breaking Monaco in the fifth and
reducing the trail to 1-4 but he was unable to hold his serve once again, going down 1-5. The Argentinean did not waste any more time and closed it 6-1.
Monaco smashed a single ace and spilled one double fault in the first set. The Buenos Aires, Argentina resident put in 70 percent of the first serves and converted 11 of the 14 of them into points. The 28-year-old kept attacking
Cervenak’s deliveries, clinching seven of the 12 first and nine of the 12 second return points. Monaco failed to put away the only break threat he came across but utilised three of the six of his own chances.
Interestingly, the first six games of the second set went exactly like the opener but it was Cervenak who had the upper hand this time. The Slovakian struck in the second and fourth game, holding both of his serves to attain a
4-0 advantage. Monaco got one back in the fifth but lost the next game to trail 1-5. However, the Argentinean amazed everyone with his superb play afterwards, as he did not allow Cervenak to claim even one more game till the end. Monaco hit three blows to
his rival, clinching six in a row to capture it 7-5.
The Argentinean, once again, won most of the points on the second returns, grabbing 13 of the 18 in the second set.
Monaco said, "I think I started very well, but then in the second set he started to play a little better. I was 1-5 down but I came back for 7-5, so I'm very happy."
The Argentinean will take on the world number 87, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in the semis.
On playing him, Monaco said, “He has the game typical of Spanish guys. I've played him many times and I know his game. It will be a difficult one for me."
After their four previous matches, the Argentinean leads Garcia-Lopez 3-1 in the head to head series.
Tags: