Santiago Giraldo destroys Dudi Sela in opening round – PTT Thailand Open 2011
World number 52, Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, faced no real trouble in disposing of the unseeded Israeli opponent, Dudi Sela, in the opening round of the PTT Thailand Open on Monday afternoon.
The unseeded Colombian wrapped up his comprehensive victory in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, to march into the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
Sela hung in the contest for just one hour and twelve minutes before he crumbled in the second set to let an easy victory to Giraldo. The 23-year-old Colombian took reins of the contest right from the very first minute and dominated
till the end to come out as the winner. He faced limited resistance from the Israeli opponent, who appeared in all sorts of confusion right from the beginning of the matchup.
Giraldo finally avenged his defeat from Sela, who outplayed him in straight sets 7-6(2), 7-6(4), in the round of 32 of the tournament in San Jose last year. The Colombian registered his 26th victory of the running ATP
season on Monday, levelling the head-to-head series against Sela at 1-1.
The Colombian fired seven thudding aces with his 63 per cent precise serve and reeled off 21 out of 31 first serve points in the matchup to come out as the winner. His four out of seven break point conversions proved to be the
critical success factor in the contest, as the Israeli opponent registered merely one serve break in the entire matchup to finish on the losing side.
Sela held his serve in the opening five games of the matchup before he suffered the first jolt of the day in the sixth game, when the Colombian broke his serve for the first time in the match. Giraldo’s second consecutive break
point conversion sealed the first set for him at 6-2and he nailed two more in the following set to conclude a comprehensive victory at 6-3.
A harder task awaits Giraldo in the next round, as he will go one-on-one with the world number nine, Gael Monfils of France, in the second round to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of the PTT Thailand Open. Being the second
seed in the tournament, Monfils received a bye to have a direct access to the second round and will need just one victory to have a berth in the round of eight.
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