Jurgen Melzer races past Nicolas Almagro in the third round of Monte Carlo Masters
Dreaming for a spot in the quarterfinals, Austria’s Jurgen Melzer moved past Spain’s Nicolas Almagro in a two setter at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters on Thursday. The tournament is being sported at the Monte Carlo Country Club
in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France and is the third event of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Series.
Melzer has been playing tennis professionally for twelve years now and is ranked ninth in the world at the age of twenty nine. His opponent Almagro, who is just twenty five years old, was once ranked as high as eleventh in the
ATP (Association of tennis Professionals) singles rankings list, though now he ranks twelfth.
This was the pair’s third encounter on tour with their first having been one year ago at the 2010 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid where Almagro defeated Melzer very easily at the quarterfinals of the tournament. In their latest
meeting at the 2010 Bank Austria Tennis Trophy, Melzer had then defeated Almagro paying back the favour and rallying their official head-to-head on parallel terms.
The first set observed the higher ranked Austrian serve significantly better than his Spaniard opponent as he registered 75 percent of first serves and won an impressive 92 percent points on them. Almagro on the other hand, stayed
behind with a meagre 40 percent points on his 48 percent first serves. Melzer saved 100 percent break points in return and eased past the Spaniard with a breadstick in the first set.
However, the situation in the second set brought a bit resistance but the Austrian tackled it professionally and broke the Spaniard in the third and fifth game to clinch the set with a 6-4 score line. He hammered two aces, 63 percent
of first serves and picked up 70 percent of points on first serves and 58 percent on second serves respectively. Melzer managed to save two of three breakpoints while his opponent was left lingering behind with a meagre 50 percent. Melzer walks into the quarterfinals
with loss of just five games.
A world number three as well as a second seed at the tournament, Roger Federer, awaits Melzer in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Federer leads the overall head-to-head series 3-0, having met three times on different occasions.
Last time they saw each other at the quarterfinals of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris in 2010. Federer had then defeated Melzer in two sets with a 6-1, 7-6(4) score line.
It’s not difficult to anticipate that who will take the lead for the fourth time, although Melzer’s fans still believe that he stands a chance as well.
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