Potito Starace overpowers injury-stricken Berlocq in round one – Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
Italian wild card entrant, Potito Starace, penned down a 4-2 retirement victory against the Argentinean contender, Carlos Berlocq, at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012 on Tuesday. The Argentinean was trailing in the match when he suffered a left calf injury
and was forced to withdraw in the opening round at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Masters 1000 event held in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The Buenos Aires resident was trailing 2-4 when he felt severe pain in left calf and was forced to pull out from tournament in his opening match. The contestants previously met each other at the Acapulco ATP event earlier this circuit and after bagging this
match in 23-minutes, Starace took lead in the FedEx ATP Head 2 head series by 3-2 against the Argentinean.
Ranked 81st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Starace assertively entered the Monte Carlo Country Club and held his serve in the second game to tie the scores at 1-1. He then maintained consistency in his game through exceptional
display of tennis and drew the first blood in the fifth game, subsequently jumping to a 4-2 lead. However, Berlocq got injured after that, consequently awarding Starace the victory.
The 30-year-old produced a lower first serve share of 75 per cent as compared to Berlocq’s 80 per cent but registered a perfect win on it. He slid his entire serves without facing any breakpoint and converted one out of two break chances to his advantage.
Starace will next confront the eighth seed, Nicolas Almagro, who received a first round bye after being a seeded player here.
The third seed, Andy Murray, also stole the show later that day.
"It was good. I moved well," said the jubilant Scott in a post-match press conference. "I was sliding pretty well on the court. Normally that's the thing that takes time to get used to. Normally for me that's a good sign on the clay, whether I'm playing
well or not.”
The British number one crushed the Serbian challenger, Viktor Troicki, with a bagel in 67 minutes to occupy this position.
Potito Starace overpowers injury-stricken Berlocq in round one – Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
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