Pablo Carreno-Busta labours past Conor Niland in the second round qualies – Sud de France Open 2012
Third seed Spaniard, Pablo Carreno-Busta, had to go through some tough times before registering an emphatic victory against Ireland’s Conor Niland in the second round qualifiers of Sud de France Open on Sunday. The enthralling three-setter got settled at
4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) in favour of Carreno-Busta to ensure him a berth in the qualifying competition of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) 250 event in Montpellier, France.
30-year-old Irish veteran hung in the contest for two hours and 14 minutes before succumbing in the third set tie-breaker round to lose the match. Niland raced through the opening set to get one up early in the contest but his sloppy game play let the Spaniard
back in business. Carreno-Busta took the second set with his exceptional power hitting and carried on this momentum in the final set to drag it into a tie-breaker round. The 20-year-old proved too agile for the Irish veteran and concluded the matchup in the
decider to move a step closer to the main draw.
Niland secured 50 out of 80, whereas the Spaniard pocketed 40 out of his 54 first serve points in the matchup to come out as the winner. He conceded four double faults but kept winning crucial points on regularity to remain one step ahead of his opponent.
Carreno-Busta had 13 break opportunities in the match but only four conversions proved sufficient for him to drive his opponent out of the competition in a convincing manner.
Niland was off to a brilliant start in the opener and broke the Spanish serve in the third game to lead 2-1 early in the match. His third seed opponent retaliated with a cracking break point conversion in the very next game but Niland stung another serve
break in the ninth game to sustain his dominance in the contest. He took the first set at 6-4.
A steady start to the second set took the scores to 3-2 without any break point witnessed from any side. Carreno-Busta suddenly shifted to his top gear and struck two successive break points to rocket away to 6-2, levelling the set score by one-all.
With both players winning one set apiece, the decider was certain to be a nail-biter and actually proved to be one. With a trade of serve breaks in the fifth and sixth game, a tie-breaker round came into play. The ultimate decider went to the wire, with
scores tied at 5-5 but a timely min-break from Carreno-Busta closed out the match in his favour at 7-6(5).
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