Marcel Granollers crushes Gilles Simon in opening round – China Open 2011
Spanish tennis-pro Marcel Granollers upset the inform Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday to advance into the second round of 2011 China Open here at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing, China.
Unseeded at the Association of Tennis Professional’s tournament, Granollers looked in a commanding touch in a match that lasted for only one hour and nine minutes. Playing his shots all over the court, he looked in very confident
mood. Granollers had to be at his very best to clinch the opening set 6-3. However, he completely outclassed his opponent in the following set to close out the match in straight sets.
Granollers will be very content with the way he conducted himself on the court. Defeating a player ranked much higher than him, he will be feeling very confident about his game play right now. Ranked 32nd in the world,
Granollers has been in decent form since the start of this season. With already an ATP title to his name in the year 2011, he will be hoping to continue his impressive run on the tour.
If the Spaniard can maintain the current level of his game play for this entire week, he has a great chance of claiming third ATP trophy of his career. Serving with control and accuracy, he hit 66 per cent first serve. Converting
five out five break points during the contest, he made most of the available opportunities. Saving 66 per cent of the break points against himself, Granollers had a rock solid defence in addition to his wonderful attacking strategy.
Taking chances, Granollers claimed ten out of fifteen points on his second serves as well. Returning the serves brilliantly, he played some astonishing tennis at the receiving end. He will be hoping for consistency as he takes
on other quality players in the upcoming matches at the tournament.
Breaking the serve twice in the opening set, Granollers earned a very handsome 5-1 lead. Blasting his big forehand and backhand winners all over the court, he made the challenger run for his money. Although Simon broke back once,
he failed to stop his opponent from earning a well deserved set score lead 1-0.
Granollers broke the serve three more times in the following set to put himself in a very commanding position. Not showing any signs of nerves, he completed an impressive straight sets victory.
Number five seed Simon was a bit out of sorts as he managed to hit only 40 per cent first serve. He will be disappointed with his effort considering the way he has been playing since the start of the year 2011.
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