Marcel Granollers upsets Stanislas Wawrinka to reach last four – Suisse Open Gstaad 2011
Eighth seed Marcel Granollers of Spain reached his first semi-final of the season as he upset second seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at the Credit Agricole Suisse Open in Gstaad
on Friday. It took the Spaniard one hour and nine minutes to undo his opponent in a one-sided clash.
Granollers broke the Swiss in the opening game of the first set and consolidated on it to go ahead 2-0. Wawrinka fought back, breaking back in the fourth game to square off the score at 2-2. However, after that, Granollers made
his opponent’s life difficult as he started to play aggressively, hitting winners from all over the court. The Spaniard claimed four of the next five games, breaking Wawrinka in the seventh and ninth game to clinch the set 6-3.
The Barcelona resident delivered 67 percent of the first serves and one ace in the first set. Granollers converted nine of the twelve first serves and three of the six second serves into points in the opening set. Wawrinka could
not serve well as the Spaniard hit just 52 percent of the first serves, winning a meagre 50 percent of the first service points and 40 percent of the second service points. The Swiss lagged behind in all departments of the game, claiming just 25 percent of
the points on the first returns compared to 50 percent by his opponent. Wawrinka converted the only break point he received on the Spaniard’s serve but failed to save three of the four break points he faced on his own serve in the first set.
Granollers did not his let his grip to get lose on the match as he broke Wawrinka in the second game of the second set and held his serve in the next game to take a 3-0 lead. The Spaniard broke again in the eighth game to capture
the set 6-2.
The six feet and three inches tall kept his first serve percentage at 71 percent and converted an incredible 87 percent of them into points in the second set. The 25-year-old also won three of the six second return points and six
of the seventeen first return points in the second set. Granollers capitalised on two of the three break point opportunities he created on Wawrinka’s serve in the second set.
The Spaniard is slated to play world number 14 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in the semi-finals. The Russian ousted Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria in three sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
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