Somdev Devvarman upsets Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round of the Serbia Open
Surprises continued to burst at the Tennis Center Novak complex at Belgrade, Serbia, as the world number 71, Somdev Devvarman of India defeated the 26th ranked Spanish, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in second round of the Serbia
Open. In the Thursday noon’s marathon matchup, which continued for three hours and fourteen minutes, the Indian competitor edged past his opponent in a three-set thriller, 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(8).
26-year-old Devvarman finally avenged the defeat he suffered at the hands of the Spaniard at Houston this year. The Indian registered his 12th victory in the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour.
It was an evenly poised contest with the two competitors hanging in till the end. The Indian clinched the opener in the tie breaker round but couldn’t sustain the momentum in the following set, losing to Garcia-Lopez and imposing
a third one. The decider went to the wire and Devvarman finally wrapped up the contest after a nail biting tie breaker, passing on to the round of eight at Belgrade.
The third seed Garcia-Lopez matched his opponent in every segment of the game but six double faults from his racquet proved to be much taxing for him in the end. The Spaniard had 16 break opportunities in the contest and generously
frittered away ten of those to end on the losing side. Devvarman cashed in four of his five break points and conceded just one double fault in the entire matchup.
India’s number one, Devvarman lived dangerously in the close-fought opener but incredibly saved eight break points he faced from the Spanish opponent. The two contestants exchanged one serve break before a tie breaker became mandatory
at 6-6. Garcia-Lopez collected eight points in the tie breaker but the Indian edged past him to close the first set at 7-6(6) to get one up in the contest.
A dramatic momentum swing took place in the following set as Garcia-Lopez clouted three out of three serve breaks to stun the Indian. The Spaniard reeled of the second set at 6-2, depicting his true class in the game and levelling
the contest at 1-1.
It all came down to the third set and both contestants threw everything they had at their opponent. A tie breaker had to be enforced for the second time in the match as two serve breaks from each competitor took the scores to 6-6
in the third set. Garcia-Lopez saved match points at 5-6, 6-7 and 7-8 before Devvarman finally converted his fourth opportunity to seal the contest at 7-6(8). He will face Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter-final matchup up next.
Tags: