Simone Vagnozzi survives against Marius Copil in opening round – Tennislife Cup 2011 CH
Italian Simone Vagnozzi overpowered Romanian Marius Copil in a brutal three setter match at the 2011 Tennislife Cup, an ATP Challenger Tour event held on the clay courts in Napoli, Italy. He registered a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(5) victory
over the world number 222, Copil to advance into the second round on Monday.
World number 171st, Vagnozzi dominated in the first and the third set’s tie-breaker to clinch the match in almost three hours on their second meeting. He not only maintained his winning record against the Romanian but
also booked a second round spot in this event.
Both stars played their best tennis in the opening set. Copil fended off five breakpoints faced and founded four breakpoint opportunities. He also produced a fabulous 77 percent of first serve share and registered 72 percent win
on it.
The Italian on the other hand formulated a higher first serve share of 87 percent and earned an acceptable 70 percent win on it. He warded off four breakpoints faced with his amazing defensive skills and founded five breakpoint
opportunities. Despite failing to convert any to his advantage, he prevailed in the tie-breaker and eventually clinched the opener with a 7-6(5) win.
20-year-old Romanian took his game to a new height in the second set. He smoothly held entire serves without facing any hindrance or a breakpoint. Later, Copil converted one out of two breakpoint chances to his advantage to bag
the equaliser with a 6-4 score line. He manifested an equal first serve share of 72 percent but registered a plausible 71 percent win on it.
28-year-old Italian continued his losing ways in the final set and lost his blood early in the fifth game. However, he roared back in the proceeding game by converting the only breakpoint opportunity to his advantage and took the
set to a tie-breaker after keeping remaining serves. Vagnozzi rolled the balls expertly onto the lines in it to pocket the decider with a 7-6(5) victory. He clobbered an exceptional first serve share of 90 percent and earned a tremendous 67 percent win on
it.
The blissful Italian will next face the winner of the match between second seeded Argentinean Carlos Berlocq and Serbian qualifier Miljan Zekic.
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