Nicolas Almagro plonks Fernando Verdasco in the third round – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
In an all-Spanish clash, Nicolas Almagro tumbled over the former world number seven, Fernando Verdasco, in straight sets at the Sony Ericsson Open 2012 on Monday night. He nudged up a 6-3, 6-4 success against his 28-year-old compatriot to secure a place
in the round of 16 at Key Biscayne in Miami, United States.
The world number 12 put up a solid display of tennis to outsmart his fellow citizen in their eighth meeting. After earning the fame in one hour and 16 minutes, Almagro not only lowered trail in their head-to-head series by 3-5 but also took revenge for his
loss at Acapulco ATP event earlier this season against the veteran.
Almagro confidently entered this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Masters 1000 event and kept his serve in the opening game to take the initial lead. The winning Spaniard then hammered angled shots and dusted away both breakpoints he
faced to keep remaining serves. Almagro capitalised on one out of two break opportunities in the sixth game and clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line.
The 26-year-old kept momentum rolling into follow-up set and easily slid entire serves without facing any hindrance. He got the breakthrough by cashing in the lone break chance in the third game, subsequently sealing the set by winning six games to four.
Almagro is on fire this circuit as he cruised into the semis at the Aircel Chennai Open in the first week of January. He then marched into the fourth round at the Australian Open before going into a 10-match winning streak. His brilliant run of form saw
him grabbing a title at the Sao Paulo ATP event and making a title round berth at the Buenos Aires ATP event.
Next in line for Almagro is the top local star, Mardy Fish, who trounced the 28th seed, Kevin Anderson, in straight sets to set-up this battle. The American number one suffered the first blow in the second game and was trailing 1-4 when he re-focused
his strategy to seek the right path. He wiped out the last five games in a row to bag the opener and cashed in both break chances to seal the match with a 6-4, 6-3 score line.
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