Ryan Sweeting, Horacio Zeballos qualify for the round of 16 – US Men’s Clay Court Championship 2012
Ryan Sweeting beats Ricardo Mello 6-3, 7-6(6)
Defending champion, Ryan Sweeting, started in style, as he overpowered Ricardo Mello of Brazil in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(6) in the opening round at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston on Tuesday.
It took Sweeting one hour and 48 minutes to complete this victory over his opponent.
The American and Brazilian held their serve in the first seven games of the opener, taking the score to 4-3 in the former’s favour. Sweeting struck in the eighth and consolidated on it to win 6-3.
The 24-year-old was almost flawless on the first serve, as he bagged 12 of the 13 points on them and fired a couple of aces in the first set. The American pressurised Mello with aggressive replies to his second serves, pocketing
five of the seven points on them.
Sweeting and Mello started by breaking each other in the first two games of the second set to equalise the score at 1-1. Mello, once again, lost his serve but hit back in the eighth game to even it out at 4-4. The rest of the proceedings
went with the serve, taking it to a tie-breaker. Sweeting claimed a late mini-break to capture it 7-6(6).
The American was lucky to go through despite committing five double faults. The positive point was that he also smacked four aces and converted 22 of the 30 of his first serves into points.
Sweeting is slated to take on Ivo Karlovic or compatriot, Bobby Reynolds, in the next match.
Horacio Zeballos defeats Adrian Ungur 6-3, 6-3
World number 117, Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, stunned Adrian Ungur of Romania in twin sets 6-3, 6-3 to move to the second round.
Zeballos did not face much difficulty in the winning the first set, as he needed a single break to grab it 6-3.
The Argentinean banged in five aces and 61 percent of the first serves in the opener. The 26-year-old did a good job on the second deliveries, snatching nine of the 12 points on them.
Zeballos earned an early break in the second set to clinch lead from the beginning. Serving to stay in the contest at 3-5, Ungur lost his serve and dropped it 3-6.
The Argentinean neither hit any ace nor any double fault, putting in 52 percent of the first deliveries and converting 10 of the 12 of them into points.
Zeballos needed an hour and 30 minutes to beat the Romanian in a one-sided match.
The left-hander will face second seed, John Isner of USA, in the second round.
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