Nicolas Almagro downs Jurgen Melzer: Spain vs. Austria – Davis Cup WG Quarter-Finals 2012
On the opening day of the Davis Cup World Group quarter-finals, the only team to have a clean sheet was Spain. World number 12, Nicolas Almagro and the fifth ranked David Ferrer won their matches for Team Spain to give their side
a 2-0 lead over the bleak Austrian squad on Friday afternoon.
The contest was played on the clay courts of Marina d’Or, Oropesa del Mar, Castellon in Spain and the home side lived up to the hopes of the local crowd to get a significant lead in the tie. 26-year-ols Almagro started off the
proceedings from the Spanish side and took on the Austrian number one, Jurgen Melzer, in the opening singles rubber. He took merely one hour and 56 minutes to outclass the world number 21 in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, to get his side in one up in the tie.
Spanish captain, Alex Corretja, was ecstatic on the performance of his squad and hopes that the Spaniard will go on for a white-wash victory over the Austrians.
“I was a little surprised how easy it was for us today, I was expecting especially in the first match for it to be more difficult but it didn’t happen, lucky us, you need to be ready for the big fight and then if it’s easier it’s
better for you,” said Corretja.
Almagro absolutely manhandled the world number 21 throughout the contest and powered his way to victory in an authoritative fashion. He banged in nine aces and belted 29 winners in the matchup. Although the Spaniard had a below
par serve precision of just 49 per cent in the contest, he merely dropped five points on it, winning 31 out of 36 en route to victory. Almagro crafted a total of 18 break points in the contest and only five conversions were enough to yield him the emphatic
victory. On the other hand, Melzer utterly failed to even craft a break opportunity in the entire contest and kept suffering under the cosh to finish on the losing side in the end.
“I think I played one of my best matches in Davis Cup,” declared Almagro. “I had to fight for every point and I think I was more focused than him. I beat a great player in a great competition like Davis Cup so I’m very happy.”
Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez will represent Spain in the doubles matchup against Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya on Saturday, while the reverse singles rubbers will be played on Sunday afternoon.
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