Pablo Andujar topples Albert Ramos to defend his crown – Grand Prix Hassan II 2012
In an all-Spanish final, third seeded Pablo Andujar slaughtered his compatriot, Albert Ramos, with a breadstick at the Grand Prix Hassan II 2012 on Sunday. He joggled up a 6-1, 7-6(5) victory against the world number 42 to successfully defend his title at
this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Casablanca, Morocco.
The 26-year-old displayed top class performance at the Complexe Al Amal and crushed his fellow citizen in straight sets in their third encounter. After bagging this one hour and 46-minute battle, Andujar not only improved to a 3-0 lifetime against the Barcelona
native and grabbed his second ATP career title.
"I'm very happy, as this is very special to me. I didn't think that I could win here twice in a row,” Andujar was quoted in a post-match press conference. “It was difficult with the three rain delays.”
Andujar thundered into this clay court event and wiped out the opening four games in a row before his compatriot could hold on. He then swiped in the last two games and pulled out the opener with a breadstick. The higher ranked Spaniard swiped in his entire
serves without facing any real challenge and cashed in his all three break chances to inch towards the glory.
Ranked 39th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Andujar swayed from the track in the following set and suffered the first blow in the seventh game to trail at 3-4. However, the beaming Valencia resident recovered in the 10th
game and eventually imposed a tie-breaker. He outclassed Ramos in it and sealed the set with a 7-6(5) win.
Overall, Ramos penned down a poor first serve share and failed to ward off any of the four breakpoints he faced. On the other hand, he converted only one out of four break chances to his advantage, consequently bowing out to Andujar for the third straight
time.
“Albert was a bit nervous at the beginning and I played very well during the first set,” the winning Spaniard assessed after the match. “The second set could have gone in both directions. It wasn't easy to remain calm in the end.”
Andujar ruled not only in this battle but throughout the tournament. He performed double duty to secure a place in the semis (crushed Italy’s Potito Starace with a bagel and Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol in three sets on same day). In the final four, Andujar tumbled
over the Italian star, Flavio Cipolla, in straight sets to occupy this final spot.
Tags: