Matteo Viola rallies past Teymuraz Gabashvili into the second round – Circolo Tennis Monza 2012 CH
Ranked 156th in the world, Matteo Viola of Italy, bounced back with the help of the support of his home crowd to beat the world number 132, Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia, in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round
at the Circolo Tennis Monza in Italy on Monday.
Viola grabbed victory after an intense fight of two hours and 24 minutes.
In the first set, both players won their serve in the first three games to take the score to 2-1 in the favour of Gabashvili. The Russian struck in the fourth and consolidated on it to earn a 4-1 lead. Serving to stay in the set
at 2-5, Viola saved a couple of break threats but could not do the same on the third one, going down 2-6.
Gabashvili hit two aces and 68 percent of the first serves, converting 11 out of 17 into points. He was almost flawless on the second deliveries, as he lost only one of the eight on them. The Russian did not face any break point
and converted two of the five he received in the opener.
Viola drew the first blood in the second set, snatching a break in the third game to move ahead 2-1 but his opponent struck back immediately to draw level at 2-2. The Italian hit another blow in the seventh and this time he made
the most of it to win 6-4.
The right-hander neither hit any ace nor committed any double fault, maintaining a brilliant first serve percentage of 71 and claiming 16 of the 20 points on them in the second set. The Italian also did a very good job on the second
returns, as he won nine of the 12 points.
Just like the previous set, Viola snatched a break in the third game and this time he also succeeded in holding his subsequent serve to go take a 3-1 lead. The Italian maintained his advantage till the end of the proceedings, sealing
it 6-4.
Viola will meet either Rogerio Dutra Silva or Nicolas Pastor in the round of 16.
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