Rui Machado battles past Daniele Giorgini into the quarterfinal – AON Open 2011 CH
Number three seed Rui Machado of Portugal battled past Italian Daniele Giorgini 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to book his place in the last eight of 2011 AON Open Challengers tournament here in Genoa, Italy. Machado showed great determination
and fighting spirit in a match that lasted for 3 hour and 1 minute at the clay courts of Genoa.
Although the Portuguese tennis pro made a slow start to the match, he was able to lift his game just a the right time. Suffering a couple of breaks of serve in the opening set, he looked completely down and out. However, Machado
kept his focus on the game as he made a sensational come back in the next two sets to record an emphatic victory.
Girogini was disappointed with his effort and the result. Having done all the work in the first set, he let the opportunities pass him by in the second and third sets and hence he paid the price. Known for his fighting spirit,
the Italian fought right till the last minute but the effort did not prove to be enough as he was eliminated from the tournament.
Ranked 79th in the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking, Machado made a bit slow start to the match as a number of his forehand and backhand winners landed outside the lines early on. Holding on to his service
games, he managed to even the set score at 3-3.
However, Girogini was also up for the challenge and he inflicted a break of serve on his opponent to take a 5-4 lead, serving for the set. Claiming four straight points on his next service game, he changed the balance of the match
with 1 -0 set score lead.
Machado regrouped himself and showed amazing character in the following set. Despite all the aggressiveness shown by his opponent, he stayed calm under pressure and he played his shots on merit. Breaking serve twice in the set,
he earned a very handsome 5-1 lead. And although he suffered a break of serve, he successfully took the match into a decider.
Both players put up a brave fight in the third and final set but it was the Portuguese, who came out on top. Holding on to his crucial serve games and breaking the serve of his opponent, he established complete control over the
contest. He then held on to the game score advantage until he fired a blistering serve ace to close out the match. He will be hoping to continue his impressive in the next match-up as well.
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