Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo overcomes Dennis Zivkovic in the first round -
Guayaquil Challenger 2012
Third seed, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain, fought back from a deficit of one set to beat the world number 302, USA’s Dennis Zivkovic, in the opening round of the Guayaquil Challenger in Ecuador.
The Spaniard claimed victory after a battle of two hours and 13 minutes and advanced to the last-16 stage of this event.
Hidalgo and Zivkovic did not drop their serve in the first six games, squaring off the proceedings at 3-3. It was all Zivkovic show afterwards, as he struck in the seventh and ninth, winning three in a row to close it 6-3.
The American national neither hit any ace nor committed any double fault in the first set, hitting 68 percent of the first serves and pocketing 14 of the 21 points on them. In comparison, Hidalgo fired a couple of aces but he was
unable to save both break threats he came across.
Perfect start was made by Hidalgo in the second set, as he broke his American rival in the opening game and held his next serve to go up 2-0. The Spaniard struck again when Zivkovic served to stay in contention at 3-5, capturing
it 6-3.
Hidalgo smacked one ace and made the same number of double fault, putting in 65 percent of the first serves. The Spanish contender was almost flawless on the first deliveries, as he secured 12 of the 13 points on them. The 34-year-old
did not face any break point and converted both he received in the second set.
Both players held their serve in the first five games of the decider to take the score to 3-2 in favour of Hidalgo. The Spanish contender hit a blow to Zivkovic in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead and made sure that the American player
could not comeback, clinching it 6-3.
The 6ft tall’s first serve percentage dropped to 47 but the good thing for him was that he managed to claim 12 of the 17 points on them in the final set.
Hidalgo is slated to take on Russian participant, Alexander Lobkov, in the round two.
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