Marcel Granollers, Julien Benneteau qualify for the second round at the Sony Ericsson Open
Marcel Granollers battles past Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4
Marcel Granollers of Spain defeated Benjamin Becker of Germany in three thrilling sets 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday.
The Spanish broke his opponent in the second game and raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. However, Becker broke back in the fifth game and held his own serve to level the score at 3-3. Granollers broke the German again in the
tenth game, winning the first set 6-4. The Spanish converted 2 of the 4 break points he received in the first set.
In the second set, Granollers and Becker levelled the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. The German took the early lead in the tie-break and capitalized on that to win it 7-4. Becker managed to win the set despite serving
poorly as he hit 2 double faults and just 39 per cent of the first serves.
Granollers broke Becker once in the deciding set, winning it 6-4. He hit 3 aces and 53 per cent of the first serves in the third set. The Spanish won 74 per cent of the points on his first serve. The match lasted for 2 hours and
37 minutes.
Granollers is slated to face world number 13 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the second round.
Julien Benneteau defeats Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 6-3
In another first round match, world number 81 Julien Benneteau of France beat world number 61 Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. The French took 1 hour and 17 minutes to undo his opponent.
Benneteau broke his opponent in the sixth game to win the first set 6-4. He delivered 54 per cent of the first serves in the opening set, winning 75 per cent of the points on them. While, his opponent hit 52 per cent of the first
serves and converted 80 per cent of them into points.
The proceedings in the second set were not much different from the opening set as Benneteau broke Gimeno-Traver once in the set, winning it 6-3. The French fired in a single ace and kept his first serve percentage at 68 per cent.
Benneteau won 31 of the 54 points in the match. On the other hand, his opponent managed to win just 23 points.
The 29-year-old will meet world number 15 Mardy Fish of USA in the second round. The local hero, seeded 14th at the tournament, received a bye in the opening round. Benneteau and Fish will be facing each other for the
third time on the tour. Their head-to-head record is tied at 1-1.
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