Nicolas Almagro plonks Radek Stepanek to enter round two – US Open 2012
Seeded 11th in this event, Nicolas Almagro tumbled the Czech star, Radek Stepanek, in marathon four sets at the Flushing Meadows 2012 on Tuesday. He juggled up a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 victory against the world number 38 to secure a spot in the
second round at this final of the four Grand Slam events held in New York City, United States.
The Spanish number three unveiled his true form to outmuscle Stepanek for the first time in their third encounter at this major hard court event. After carving out the victory in three hours and seven minutes, Almagro not only lower trail in the FedEx ATP
(Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head Series by 1-2 against the Czech.
The 27-year-old made a powerful entry at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He blocked the lone breakpoint he faced to keep his entire serves with conviction. Almagro got the breakthrough in the seventh game by capitalising on one out of four
break chances and subsequently clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line.
Stepanek on the other hand re-focused his strategy in the follow-up set. He got the coveted break in the sixth game and took a 4-2 lead. Apart from losing his serve twice, the Czech stayed focused and levelled the scores at 5-5. He prevailed in the tie-breaker
to click the set with a 7-6(5) success.
Ranked 12th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Almagro proved his class in the third set. He gifted away his serve once but cashed in both break opportunities to formulate the victory with a 6-3 win.
Almagro kept momentum running towards the fourth set and held his opening serve to tie the scores at 1-1. He quickly reeled off his entire serves without encountering any breakpoint and capitalised on one out of two break chances in the fifth game to pull
out the set with a 6-4 score line.
Next in line for Almagro is the German contender, Philipp Petzschner, who made an epic comeback to outshine France’s Nicolas Mahut in a five-set nail-biter to set up this battle.
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