Richard Gasquet edges past Daniel Munoz-De La Nava to reach the last four – Estoril Open 2012
French second seed, Richard Gasquet, survived the test of the Spaniard qualifier, Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, in the quarter-final of the Estoril Open on Friday. He was forced to win the first set in a tie-breaker but wasted no time
in the second set to book a spot in the last four. Final scores were 7-6(1), 6-2.
The opening set featured a very tight battle between the two players. Both player met blow-to-blow and never allowed their opponent to inch ahead at any point. Both contenders tested each other in the opening serve game and continued
the close fight until the end of the sixth game.
Finally, the breakthrough came for the Spanish qualifier and that hinted another upset in the making but his opponent immediately lowered his odds with a perfect reply in the following game. Scores were tied at 4-4 and followed
a couple of serve holds at both ends that enforced the tie-breaker round into play.
With immense experience under his belt, the 25-year-old French tennis ace sneaked early mini-break and generated a big gap between the scores and won the tie-breaker round with ease. It was a brilliant show from both contenders
who stretched the set to the extreme level.
The crowd wanted another tight set but some mind-startling domination from the French second seed reversed their anticipation. He started off slowly, bagging two serve games and pushing the scores to 2-2, but picked up the momentum
in the meantime; smashed her opponent down to a trail of 2-5 in no time.
Suddenly, the match was on the verge of an end after hinting another tight set. Gasquet wasted no time at all in ousting his opponent; pocketed four points in a row and marched on into the semi-final of the tournament.
Next up for the French tennis icon is the fourth seed Spaniard, Albert Ramos, who has been performing brilliantly throughout the tournament. All four top seeds have managed to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament that has
increased the hype of possible results.
Other semi-final will feature the Argentine top seed, Juan Martin del Potro, and the Swiss tennis ace, Stanislas Wawrinka. Both these matches are expected to live up to the expectations of the crowd. They should stretch to three
sets and without a doubt reach the highest level of play. Both these matches will take place on the eve of Saturday.
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