Juan Monaco topples Guido Pella to reach final showdown – Power Horse Cup 2013
In an all-Argentinean clash, third seeded Juan Monaco edged past his qualifying compatriot, Guido Pella, in straight sets at the Power Horse Cup 2013 on Friday.
He recorded a 6-4, 7-6(8) score line against the 23-year-old to secure a place in the title-round at this ATP World Tour 250 series event taking place in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The Argentinean wild card entrant, Monaco fended off late resilience to overpower Pella in their first encounter. After stealing the limelight in just under two hours, Monaco inched towards his eighth ATP World Tour career title.
The former Top 10, Monaco commented in a courtside interview after conquering this match, “It's my first final this year, so I'm very happy. I played a couple of good matches, so I've got good rhythm. We played a great match [today]. We've known each other
for a long time and have had many practices together. In the second set especially, we fought until the last point.”
Monaco made a convincing start into this match and after his compatriot held his opening serve, he bagged three games in a row. He then slid his entire serves with angled shots and clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line.
Currently ranked 19th in the Emirates Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Monaco maintained consistency in his games in the next set. He got the coveted break in the third game and took a 3-1 lead. The Argentinean veteran squandered his serve in the eighth
game but broke again, consequently taking a 6-5 lead. Despite failing to serve out the match in the proceeding game, Monaco dominated in the tie-breaker and eventually sealed the set with a 6-4, 7-6(8) success.
On the whole, Monaco clobbered a better first serve share of 68 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 52 per cent and superbly marked 45 out of 61 points on it. He also hammered eight aces and ended the battle with 92 points.
Next up for Monaco is the Finn number one, Jarkko Nieminen, in the final round. He reflected about his upcoming battle, “It will be a different match. Jarkko hits with a lot of spin, he plays from the baseline and doesn't make easy mistakes. You need good
rhythm to beat him.”
The sixth seeded Finn rallied past Netherlands’ Igor Sijsling in three sets to progress. He penned down a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory against the 25-year-old. Finn made a poor start in the final set but remained focused to carve out this victory.
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