Nicolas Almagro defeats Victor Hanescu; grabs tenth career title at Open de Nice Côte d’Azur
World number 12 Nicolas Almagro of Spain captured tenth title of his career and third of 2011 as he defeated Romanian Victor Hanescu, ranked 69th in the world, in three sets in the final of Open de Nice Côte d’Azur at
Nice Lawn Tennis Club in Nice on Saturday. The Spaniard fought back from a set down to win the title match 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 18 minutes.
Almagro and Hanescu exchanged three breaks of serve in the first 12 games of the opening set, levelling the score at 6-6 and forcing a tie-break. Hanescu grabbed the only mini-break in the tie-break to win it 7-5.
The Romanian kept his first serve percentage at 65 percent and grabbed 59 percent of the points on the first serve in the opening set. The 29-year-old saved two of the five break points and converted three of the six break points
on his opponent’s serve in the first set.
After losing a close opening set, Almagro came back in the second set and broke Hanescu in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Serving to stay in the set at 3-5, Hanescu failed to hold his serve and lost the set 3-6.
Almagro had a low first serve percentage as he delivered just 45 percent of the first serves, converting 89 percent of them into points in the second set. The Spaniard capitalized on two of the six break point opportunities he
created on Hanescu’s serve and did not face any break point on his own serve in the second set.
Almagro carried the winning momentum into the final set and broke Hanescu in the second game, racing to a 3-0 lead. Hanescu responded as he broke back in the fifth game and held his serve in the next game to level the score at
3-3. However, the Spaniard was in no mood to lose his grip on the match, clinching three straight games to win the set 6-3.
The 25-year-old fired seven aces and 52 percent of the first serves in the third set, capturing 80 percent of the points on them.
After the match, Almagro said, “I feel good. I’m very happy with the victory today. I think I didn’t play my best tennis at the beginning of the match, but in the second set I started to play better, hitting my forehand with more
confidence, and finally I was able to win the match."
Talking about his preparation of French Open, the Spaniard said, “I think I’m ready for Roland Garros. I want to rest a little bit now, tomorrow I want to practise, and we’ll see what happens on Tuesday. It’s the most important
clay-court tournament of the year and I go with a lot of confidence in my tennis.”
The right-handed is drawn to play world number 116 Lukasz Kubot of Poland in the opening round of the French Open.
Tags: