Mikhail Youzhny devastates Nicolas Almagro in opening matchup – China Open 2011
A surprising result was witnessed in the opening round clash of the China Open, as the fourth seeded Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro, suffered a crushing straight sets defeat at the hands of the unseeded Russian opponent, Mikhail Youzhny,
on Tuesday afternoon.
Ranked at number 11 in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings, Almagro failed to put up a decent performance in the contest and crumbled in straight sets 3-6, 2-6, against the 37th ranked Russian.
Youzhny took just 69 minutes to wrap up his surprise victory over the fourth seed Spaniard to book a berth in the second round of the ATP World Tour 500 event. He kept his clean record against Almagro, registering his third straight
win over him to lead 3-0 in the head-to-head series. Youzhny last defeated Almagro in the round of 32 at Wimbledon this season, and registered his 23rd victory of the running year to drive the Spaniard out of the competition.
Youzhny dropped just five points on his serve in the entire matchup, clinching 20 out of 25 first serve points and converted half of his 10 break opportunities en route to victory. Almagro frittered away four vital break points
in the game and cashed in merely one to finish on the losing side in the end.
The belligerent Russian was off to a flying start in the opening set, breaking Almagro in the very first game of the matchup to lead 2-0 early in the contest. Another breakthrough in the ninth game closed out the opener for Youzhny
at 6-3, giving him 1-0 lead in the competition.
Almagro finally registered his first serve break of the day in the opening game of the next set but three crushing break point conversions from Youzhny left him answerless at 2-6.
Youzhny will take on the other Spanish competitor, the world number 28, Feliciano Lopez, in the next round to battle for a place in the quarter-finals. Lopez outplayed the Turk qualifier, Marsel Ilhan, in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(6),
in the opening round on Monday to move in the round of 16 of the China Open.
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