Juan Monaco stuns Nicolas Almagro to reach the final – German Tennis Championships 2012
Seeded third in the draw, Juan Monaco of Argentina, fought back after dropping the opening set to surprise Spain’s top seed, Nicolas Almagro, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships
in Hamburg on Saturday.
The Argentinean contender required two hours and two minutes to complete the win.
Almagro clinched initial breakthrough in the fourth game and claimed his next serve to attain a 4-1 lead. The Spanish player sustained his lead till the end to clinch it 6-3.
Ranked 12th in the world, Almagro banged in one ace but also committed a double fault in the first set. The 26-year-old managed a poor performance on the second serves, as he lost six of the nine points on them but he
balanced that by winning 19 of the 24 points on the first ones.
Almagro and Monaco went at par in the first six games of the second set to take the score to 3-3. The Argentinean snatched three in a row after that to close it 6-3.
The 6ft 1in tall delivered a single ace and 79 percent of the first serves in the second set. The Buenos Aires, Argentina resident’s conversion rate was remarkably well, as he won 16 of the 19 first and four of the five second
serve points.
In the third set, both players found it difficult to hold serve, as seven of the 10 games were broken. Monaco handled the pressure better than Almagro, claiming four of those seven to and clinching it 6-4.
A delighted Monaco said during the post match press conference, "I’m very happy with the way I played today. I played a great match to beat Almagro, the top seed and a Top 10 player. I’m very happy about that and getting through
to the final."
The Argentinean will take on the challenge of home favourite, Tommy Haas, in the title match.
Anticipating his next match, Monaco said, "Tommy is an old player but very experienced and he will be the hero of the crowd. So, it’s going to be a difficult match."
The wild card entrant, Haas, toppled the fourth seed, Marin Cilic, in the semi-finals.
Commenting on Monaco’s game, Haas stated, "Clay is his favourite surface. He's been one guy who keeps climbing the ladder in the rankings. He's a very good competitor, moves well. So I'm going to have to play on top of my game.”
Monaco leads his German rival 4-1 in the head to head record on the ATP World Tour.
Tags: