Paolo Lorenzi ousts Arnau Brugues to reach quarters – Todi Challenger 2012 CH
Top seed, Paolo Lorenzi, stomped over the Spanish contender, Arnau Brugues, in straight sets at the Internazionali di Tennis dell’Umbria 2012 on Thursday. He nudged up a 7-6(3), 7-6(3) victory against the world number 193 to secure a place in the final eight
at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event held in Todi, Italy.
The crowd favourite, Lorenzi dominated in both sets’ tie-breaker to carve out the victory in their third meeting this season. After bagging the match in just under two hours, the Italian comfortably advanced into the quarter-finals at this outdoor clay court
event.
Lorenzi made a sloppy entry at the Italian dirt. He suffered the first blow in the opening game and went 0-2 down. Apart from recovering in the sixth game, the Italian lost his serve again and trailed at 5-6. However, the Italian not only snatched his break
back again but prevailed in the tie-breaker to click the opener with a 7-6(3) success.
Ranked 72nd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Lorenzi carried his momentum in the proceeding set. He kept his opening serve to level the scores at 1-1. The Italian continued hitting angled shots and bagged his following serves
until he got the coveted break in the 11th game. Regardless of losing his edge in the very next game, the Italian got the upper hand in the tie-breaker and clinched the set with a 7-6(3) score line.
Summing up performance of the top seed, Lorenzi jolted down a slightly higher first serve share of 68 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 66 per cent. He also marked 35 out of 51 points on it and finished the match with 83 points.
Lorenzi will square off against the fifth seed, Guillaume Rufin, who received a walkover against Austria’s Gerald Melzer.
The second seed, Filippo Volandri, faced a bitter reality later that day. He was trailing 5-7, 0-3 when he was forced to withdraw due to an injury he sustained during the match. As a result, Australia’s Jason Kubler secured a spot in the quarter-finals at
the Italian clay courts.
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