Ricardo Mello, Michael Russell win their second qualifiers – US Men’s Clay Court Championship 2012
Ricardo Mello beats Peter Polansky 7-5, 6-3
Ricardo Mello, seeded third at the event, prevailed over Peter Polansky of Canada in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in the second qualifier at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship on Sunday. The Brazilian required just an hour and 27 minutes
to claim victory.
Polansky drew the first blood, breaking Mello in the sixth game but could not capitalise on it, losing next two games to even out the score at 4-4. Both players held their serve to take it to 5-5. The Brazilian made a strike in
the eleventh game and claimed it 7-5.
Mello gave an average performance on his serve, as he did not fire any ace and committed one double fault. The Brazilian was impressive on the returns though, converting eight of the 22 first and nine of the 18 second ones into
points in the opener.
The second set went with the serve in the first six games, with the score tied a 3-3. Mello raised the level of his game after that, as he snatched three straight games to win it 6-3.
The Brazilian bombarded three aces but had a poor first serve percentage of 46, pocketing eight of the 12 points on them. He did not face any break point and availed two of the four he received in the second set.
Mello is slated to play Catalin-lonut Gard of Romania in the final match of the qualifying draw.
Michael Russell defeats Denes Lukacs 6-4, 7-5
Fourth seed, Michael Russell of USA, took advantage of the support from his home crowd, as he ousted world number 410, Denes Lukacs of Hungary, in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 to book his place in the final round of the qualifying draw.
Russell and Lukacs swapped a break of serve in the first six games of the opening set to level the score at 3-3. The American grabbed next two and moved ahead 5-3 but he failed in serving it out. However, Russell managed to snatch
a break again in the 10th game to triumph 6-4.
The American pounded three aces but lost the advantage as he also delivered four double faults. However, he was extraordinary on the second returns, winning 11 of the 14 points on them in the opener.
Russell and Lukacs broke each other once in the first 10 games of the second set, squaring off the score at 5-5. The American went on to win two in a row and sealed it 7-5.
Ranked 136th in the world, Russell, will meet Daniel Kosakowski in the final qualifier.
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