Nicolas Almagro, David Nalbandian proceed to second round – Copa Claro 2012
Nicolas Almagro beats Potito Starace 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
Second seed, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, survived a scare in the first set to beat World Number 71 Potito Starace 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the opening round at the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. The Spaniard required two hours and seven minutes to come
out victorious.
Almagro and Starace were triumphant on their serve in the first eight games, equalising the score at 4-4. The Italian lost just two points in the next couple of games, winning the set 6-4.
Ranked 11th in the World, Almagro bounced back and broke Starace in the fourth game of the second set. The Spaniard capitalised on it and served out the set at 5-3.
Starace and Almagro traded a break of serve in the decider and evened out the score 6-6, taking the set to a tie-breaker. The Spaniard captured a mini-break at 3-3 and consolidated it to win 7-6.
Almagro smashed seven aces and converted a total of 57 of the 68 first serves into points. The Spaniard capitalised on two of the seven break points he acquired in the match.
The Murcia, Spain resident will play Federico Delbonis of Argentina in the second round. Delbonis beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2 in the opener.
David Nalbandian defeats Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 6-3
Former World Number 3 David Nalbandian trounced American Wayne Odesnik in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 and made his way to the round of 16. The 2008 Champion took an hour and 21 minutes to capture the match.
Nalbandian did not give any chance to Odesnik and utilised all of his own in the first set. The Argentinean lost just a couple of games, grabbing the set 6-2. The right-hander delivered one ace and the same number of double fault. Nalbandian won both break
points he received in the opener.
The Argentinean lost one of his serve games in the second set but compensated that by winning against three of his opponents. Nalbandian served it out 5-3. The 5ft 11in player bagged the majority of return points, as he sealed 22 of 41.
Currently ranked 85th in the World, Nalbandian said, "Always playing at home is special. It was a little windy out there today and the ball was moving around a bit."
The Argentinean will take on fifth seed Juan Monaco in the second round. Monaco ousted World Number 56, Filippo Volandri of Italy in the previous match.
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