Nikola Ciric stuns Ruben Hidalgo in quarter-final – Sao Leopoldo Challenger 2011
Spanish Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo was flabbergasted by the inferior ranked Serbian, Nikola Ciric, in the quarter-final of Sao Leopoldo Challenger tournament. It was the first encounter between the two contenders and lasted for an hour
and fifty-three minutes and finished with a score of 6-4, 7-5.
Ciric and Hidalgo had lost five and three matches respectively in their last nine encounters and were looking extremely rusty in this tournaments campaign as well. Sao Leopoldo indoor clay-courts featured a relatively decent battle
but couldn’t extend to the three-setter.
Unfortunately, the score doesn’t do justice to the superior ranked, Hidalgo, who was much better in the match but was extremely unlucky at the critical stages of the match. It was a traditional start to the match as both players
hung on to their serves to keep the score card ticking over.
Score moved to 3-3 with not much drama; instead it features some eye-startling display from both players and Ciric was totally fired up with his serves and managed to secure three aces, one per game. Spanish was a bit worn out
and committed a single double-fault but apart from that his display was not below-par by any means.
Serbian continued to entertain the crowd with his prolific display. Finally he managed to clinch a crucial break in the first set in the seventh game of the game but luck had a major part to play in this as his opponent slipped
twice in the same game and couldn’t make a return that lost him some vital points.
Ciric continued to impress the crowd with his outrageous shot making ability and smashed two more aces before the set was finally close at 6-4. Spanish had five opportunities in the last games of the set to break his opponent’s
serve but he couldn’t capitalize on single of them and faced a stunning defeat in the first set.
Mission was not accomplished for the Serbian as he had to make sure he didn’t allowed his competitor to push the match into the third set as most of his stamina was drained in the first set. He hit the fourth gear in the first
game and broke his rival’s serve to take two games lead upfront.
The whole set was traded in breaks between the two players and it looked like they were under a lot of pressure during their serves and their tiring body language also played a strong part in this phenomena. Score was 2-1 in favour
of Ciric when the exchange of breaks started and apart from the seventh and eighth game, the whole set was played on breaks.
Ultimately the Serbian capitalized on a break point and then with a hold of serve, he struck two brilliant aces to wrap up the game in his favour. He moves into the semis where he will be meeting an Argentine Juan-Pablo Brzezicki.
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