Simon Greul crushes Maxime Teixeira to reach quarters – Rai Open 2012 CH
German veteran, Simon Greul, devastated the French rising star, Maxime Teixeira, in straight sets at the Rai Open 2012 on Thursday. He penned down a 6-4, 6-1 victory against the 23-year-old to cruise into the final eight at this ATP (Association of Tennis
Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place in Rome, Italy.
Greul got the better of the French youngster in one hour and 16 minutes in their first encounter. After overpowering Teixeira, the German comfortably advanced into the quarter-finals at this clay court event.
Ranked 206th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Greul assertively stepped on the red clay courts and held his opening serve with poise. He then maintained consistency in his game and plucked his remaining serve without facing
any barrier. He got the breakthrough in the last game and clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line.
The high-spirited German went berserk in the following set and went on a five-game killing spree before Teixeira could hold on. He held his serve once more and pulled out the set with an assuring 6-1 success. Greul was never threatened with any breakpoint
and converted one out of three break opportunities to his advantage.
Summing up the 31-year-old’s performance, Greul clobbered a poor first serve share of 40 per cent as compared to the French’s 56 per cent but amazingly marked 18 out of 23 points on it.
Next challenge for Greul is the Serbian contender, Dusan Lajovic, who devastated Spain’s Javier Marti with double breadsticks to set-up this meeting. The Serb produced a lower first serve share of 53 per cent as compared to Marti’s 72 per cent but brilliantly
availed 15 out of 21 points on it.
The third seed, Rui Machado of Portugal, bounced back to outrun Kazakhstani challenger, Andrey Golubev, in a three set thriller. The Portuguese brushed off only two out of seven breakpoints he faced but cashed in six out of 14 break opportunities to formulate
a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 score line in two hours and 27 minutes. He manifested a much better first serve share of 71 per cent and clicked 41 out of 65 points on it.
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