Santiago Giraldo overwhelms Jack Sock to reach the second round – BNP Paribas Open 2012
An enthralling battle was witnessed in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open when Santiago Giraldo registered a thumping victory over the 19-year-old local wildcard entrant, Jack Sock, on Thursday. The 58th ranked
Colombian recovered from a one-set deficit to overpower the American teenager, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1, forcing his way into the second round of the APT (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event being played in Indian Wells, California, the United Sates.
The exciting American youngster displayed some amazing hard court tennis in the opening set of the match and was threatening an upset victory over the far superior ranked Giraldo. It was the experience and guile of the Colombian
which saved him in the contest, as he made an explosive comeback in the last two sets to turn the tables on Sock. He spared merely one game for the American in the last two sets of the match, driving him out of the competition with absolute authority.
Sock hung in the match for one hour and 45 minutes but had to surrender against the fury of the Colombian opponent in the later parts of the match. He had an excellent beginning to the contest, holding all of his serves to tie
the scores at 5-5 in the opener. A crucial break point conversion from the 19-year-old in the depth stage of the set gifted the opener to him at 7-5 but it was just an all-Giraldo show from there onwards.
Dropping the opening set ignited the rage mode in the Colombian and he came out firing at Sock in the next set. Giraldo went for the kill immediately, nailing three successive serve breaks to take the second set with a bagel. He
kept the momentum rolling in the decisive set as well, breaking the American’s serve twice in a row to seal an emphatic victory.
Giraldo will face a much tougher challenge in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, as he will face off against the Japanese number one, Kei Nishikori, for a place in the third round later this week. Nishikori is seeded at
number 17 in the tournament and had a bye to the second round.
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