Milos Raonic, Nikolay Davydenko through to the second round of Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
Milos Raonic beats Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-2
Rising Canadian tennis player Milos Raonic, ranked 28th in the world, continued to perform well on clay court as he outclassed former top ten ranked Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the first
round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Tuesday. It took the Canadian just one hour and 13 minutes to oust his opponent.
Raonic broke the Czech once in the opening set, winning it 6-4. The 20-year-old hit three aces and committed a single double fault in the first set. The Canadian delivered 44 percent of the first serves, converting a whopping 92
percent of them into points. Raonic converted one of the four break points he received in the opening set.
Carrying the winning momentum into the second set, the Canadian broke Stepanek twice to claim the set 6-2. Raonic improved his serve, firing four aces and 73 percent of the first serves in the second set. The right-handed won 88
percent of the points on his first serve in the second set. The Canadian did not face any break point in the second set.
Raonic is slated to play world number 125 Simon Greul of Germany in the round of 32.
Nikolay Davydenko defeats Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 7-6(6)
Former world number 3 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia prevailed over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, ranked 20th in the world, in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(6) to move to the second round.
Davydenko broke Dolgopolov in the ninth game of the opening set, claiming it 6-4. The Russian hit 73 percent of the first serves, winning 59 percent of the points on them in the first set. On the other hand, Dolgopolov did not
serve well as he delivered just 49 percent of the firsts serves and won 59 percent of the points on them. The Ukrainian failed to save any of the three break points he faced in the opening set.
In the second set, none of the two players was able to break other’s serve, levelling the score at 6-6 to take the set to a tie-break. Davydenko managed to claim a late mini-break in the tie-break and clinched it 8-6.
The Russian fired a couple of aces and three double faults in the second set. The 29-year old fired 78 percent of the first serves, converting 70 percent of them into points in the second set. The right-handed saved all the six
break points he faced in the second set.
Davydenko will play world number 144 Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the second round. The French defeated Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-4 in the first round.
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