Julien Benneteau will take on Juan Monaco in the final showdown – Proton Malaysian Open 2012
French veteran, Julien Benneteau, will square off against the second seed, Juan Monaco, in the title-round at the Proton Malaysian Open 2012, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 Series Event taking place in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.
He stunned top seeded David Ferrer with a breadstick to set up a date with the Argentinean number two and inched closer towards his maiden ATP title.
The Swiss resident has had a monotonous season so far. He started the season making a final appearance at the Apia International Sydney (lost to Fin qualifier Jarkko Nieminen). However, he failed to repeat his winning ways in the following tournaments until
now at the Putra Indoor Stadium. Benneteau season was highlighted with a bronze medal in the doubles event at the London Olympics.
After making a third round showing at the US Open (crashed out by Novak Djokovic), Benneteau high spiritedly entered this indoor hard court event. He dumped Carlos Berlocq from Argentina in the opening round in straight sets. The French maintained his intensity
and trounced Australia’s Matthew Ebden in straight sets to enter the final eight. He then eased past the Colombian challenger, Alejandro Falla, without facing much trouble to set up a date with the top seed, David Ferrer.
Ranked 34th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Benneteau displayed his best tennis and ultimately shocked Ferrer in one hour and 37 minutes. He superbly warded off 10 out of 12 breakpoints he came across and capitalised on five
out of six break chances, eventually sealing the deal with a 6-4, 6-1 score line.
The Argentinean ace is in awesome run of form this season. He conquered the VTR Open in Vina del Mar (trounced Berlocq), the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston (downed John Isner) and the bet-at-home Open in Hamburg (dumped Tommy Haas). Mustering
his season further, Monaco made a final showing at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart (lost to Janko Tipsarevic).
The 28-year-old bowed out to Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the opening round of the US Open earlier this month. However, he re-focused and easily toppled Jimmy Wang and Vasek Pospisil before encountering the Asian number one, Kei Nishikori. Benneteau
lost his path after bagging the opening set. He faced a match point at 2-5 but turned the tables on the Japanese after that. He not only recovered but dominated in the tie-breaker, eventually clicking the match and labouring into the final round.
"Nishikori played very well," said the Argentine in a courtside interview after overpowering Nishikori. "He came back in the second set, playing better than me. The final set was up and down, he had one match point, then I fought back and I am very happy
the way I finished the match. I think the crowd enjoyed it."
Both tennis stars will lock horns against each other for the first time. Benneteau has not lost a single set en route to the final round. However, he might face pressure to capture his maiden career title, subsequently swaying him from the right path.
The Argentine on the other hand showed exceptional fightback skills in this event. He is expected to triumph over Benneteau with a 6-3, 6-2 score line.
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