Marcel Granollers stuns Fernando Verdasco to enter final showdown – VEGETA Croatia Open 2012
In an all-Spanish affair, Marcel Granollers shocked the top seeded Fernando Verdasco in mouth-watering three sets at the VEGETA Croatia Open 2012 on Saturday. He nudged up a 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1 victory against the world number 16 to secure a spot in the final
round at this outdoor clay court tournament taking place in Umag, Croatia.
Granollers displayed brilliant tennis abilities and tricks to jolt down the former world number five in their second meeting. The contenders last battled each other at the Gstaad ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) last circuit and after stealing this
show in almost three hours, Granollers improved to a 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series against the 28-year-old.
The Barcelona native thundered into this ATP World Tour 250 series event and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. He maintained consistency in his game and held his remaining serves with conviction. Granollers cashed in another
break chance in the seventh game and clicked the opener by winning six games to two.
The left-handed Verdasco found the right track in the following set. He swiped his serves until he earned the critical break in the eighth game. Apart from losing his edge in the very next game, the higher seed remained calm and took the set to a tie-breaker.
He prevailed in it and carved out the equaliser with a 7-6(5) win.
Ranked 24th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Granollers lifted his game again in the final round. He made a sloppy start and suffered the first blow in the opening game. However, Granollers went berserk and stroke out the
last six games in a row, eventually sealing the decider with a breadstick.
Next in line for the winning Spaniard is second seeded Marin Cilic who tumbled the Ukrainian number one, Alexandr Dolgopolov, in straight sets to set up this battle. The Croat failed to block both breakpoints he came across but capitalised on five out of
nine break chances to formulate a 7-5, 6-2 success in one hour and 21 minutes. He produced a lower first serve share but impressively marked 17 out of 26 points on it.
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