Ricardo Ghedin bounces over Treat Conrad Huey in qualifiers – Proton Malaysian Open 2012
Seeded third in the qualifying tournament, Ricardo Ghedin from Italy made an epic comeback from a set down to overpower Philippines’ Treat Conrad Huey in a three-set nail-biter at the Proton Malaysian Open 2012 on Sunday. He summed up a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(8)
victory against the 27-year-old to secure a spot in the main draw at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Italian contender showed exceptional skills to get a chance to grab his maiden ATP career title at this indoor hard court event. He found his rhythm after losing the opening set and required two hours and 26 minutes to record the victory.
Conrad Huey made a convincing entry at the Putra Indoor Stadium. He showed exceptional defensive skills and after dusting away all five breakpoints he faced, the Pilipino bagged his entire serves. Conrad Huey drew the first blood in the opening game after
cashing in the lone break opportunity and ultimately clicked the opener with a 6-4 win.
Ranked 277th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Ghedin rebounded in the following set. He smoothly conquered his entire serves after blocking the only breakpoint he faced. The Italian converted one out of two break chances to
his advantage in the last game and clicked the equaliser by winning six games to four.
The 26-year-old kept his rhythm in the final set which counted the most. He cashed in the lone break chance in the second game and jumped to a 3-0 lead. Apart from losing his edge in the seventh game, Ghedin continued hitting angled shots and took the set
to a tie-breaker. The Italian edged past his opponent in it and clinched the set with a 7-6(8) score line.
All in all, the Italian rising star smashed 12 aces to prevail. He produced a lower first serve share of 54 per cent as compared to the Philippine’s 68 per cent but amazingly clinched 46 out of 57 points on it.
Ghedin will face off the Taiwanese wild card entrant, Jimmy Wang, in the opening round.
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