Rui Machado, Steve Darcis cruise into the semi-finals – Trani Cup 2011 CH
Rui Machado defeats Martin Fischer 6-0, 6-3
Portuguese Rui Machado, ranked 84th in the world, thrashed world number 198 Martin Fischer of Austria in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 to book his place in the semi-finals of the Trani Cup in Trani, Italy on Friday. The match lasted for just an hour and eleven minutes.
Machado did not lose any game in the first set, breaking his opponent three times and clinching six consecutive games to grab the set 6-0. The Portuguese kept his first serve percentage at 74 percent, capturing eleven of the seventeen points on them. The 27-year-old won three of the four break points he received and saved the one break point he faced in the first set.
The five feet and ten inches tall broke Fischer in the second game of the second set to grab a 2-0 lead but he was broken back immediately and also lost the fourth game to tie the score at 2-2. The Portuguese broke again in the eighth game and served out the set at 5-3. Machado returned brilliantly, claiming eleven of the 22 first return points in the second set.
The top seed will play unseeded Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in the semi-finals.
Steve Darcis beats Adrian Ungur 6-1, 6-3
Third seed Steve Darcis of Belgium outplayed world number 171 Adrian Ungur of Romania in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to qualify for the semi-finals. The Belgian needed just an hour and two minutes to win the match.
Darcis came roaring into the match as he broke Ungur in the first and third game of the opening set to take a 4-0 lead. The Belgian consolidated on the double break of serve, clinching the set 6-1. The right-handed kept his first serve percentage at 56 percent and smacked one ace in the first set. Darcis played quite well, winning eight of the nine first service points and eight of the fifteen first return points in the second set.
The Belgian carried the winning momentum into the second set as he broke the Romanian in the fourth game and held his serve in the next game to go up 4-1. Darcis capitalised on the single break of serve and served out the set at 5-3. The Saive resident fired three aces and sealed a whopping fifteen of the seventeen points on the first serve in the second set.
Darcis will take on world number 261 Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy in the semi-finals.
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