Nicolas Almagro trounces Jan Hajek to enter final showdown – Skistar Swedish Open 2012
Second seeded Nicolas Almagro tumbled the Czech, Jan Hajek, in straight sets at the Skistar Swedish Open 2012 on Saturday. He registered a 6-4, 6-3 victory against the world number 102 to book a spot in the final round at this outdoor clay court tournament
taking place in Bastad, Sweden.
The Spanish number three, Almagro, stomped over the 28-year-old in 67 minutes in their second battle against each other. The seed required 67 minutes to not only improve to a 2-0 record in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series
against Hajek but also advance into the title-round.
Almagro comfortably entered this ATP World Tour 250 series event and held his serve in the opening game with poise. He continued hitting angled shots and plucked remaining serves. The Spaniard got the breakthrough in the last game and clinched the opener
with a 6-4 score line.
Ranked 10th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Almagro kept momentum rolling into the following set and swiftly swiped his entire serves without facing any breakpoint. He cashed in the lone break chance in the eighth game and
sealed the set by winning six games to three.
Summing up the higher ranked contender’s performance, Almagro smashed eight aces and clobbered a better first serve share of 65 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 60 per cent. He also spectacularly marked 32 out of 36 points on it and capitalised on two
out of six break chances to steal the spotlight.
Almagro is currently enjoying an amazing season as he already lifted two titles. He dumped Italy’s Filippo Volandri to conquer the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo and crippled the American qualifier, Brian Baker, to capture the Open de Nice title. The Spaniard
also made a final berth at the Buenos Aires ATP event before entering these Swedish courts.
The 26-year-old will square off against his top seeded compatriot, David Ferrer, who outsmarted Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to set up this epic encounter. Ferrer lost his serve once but capitalised on three out of seven break chances, consequently sealing
the deal with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
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