Tatsuma Ito surprises Nicolas Almagro to reach the second round – Rakuten Japan Open 2012
Japanese wildcard entrant, Tatsuma Ito, clinched biggest match win of his career by toppling the world number 12, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, in the first round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo.
Enjoying full support of his home crowd, Ito won both sets in tie-breakers, winning it 7-6(4), 7-6(5) after a battle of one hour and 54 minutes. This was the Japanese player’s first tour level win since June, when he reached the
quarter-finals of UNICEF Open.
Ito delighted the home crowd with his superb game, matching the former top 10 player from Spain in every department of the game.
Both players served outstandingly in the first set, as they did not drop a single one till the end, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. Ito faced three break points in the 12th game but did well to put
away all of them. The Japanese contender’s confidence got increased after coming through this difficult time. He clinched a late mini-break in the tie-breaker and capitalised on it to triumph 7-6(4).
First half of the second set went exactly in the same way as the opener, as Ito and Almagro easily held their serves and equalised the score at 3-3. Almagro went into the driving seat by breaking the Japanese contestant in the
seventh and consolidating on it to move ahead 5-3. However, he failed to serve out the set in the 10th game and the score once again got levelled. The contest was taken to a second tie-breaker, where Ito made a late strike once again and made the
most of his advantage to win 7-6(5).
Ito was almost untouchable on his first serves, as he bagged 48 of the 56 points on them including 14 huge aces. The Japanese player was a bit erratic on the second deliveries, as he lost 22 of the 42 points on them.
Talking to Japanese media after the match, Ito said, “Almagro has great ground strokes and it’s almost like hitting against a wall. But for some reason, I was able to unravel his strokes today and I gained confidence throughout
the match.”
He added, “I didn’t feel any pressure playing in front of the home crowd. My family was here and I was helped by them and the spectators who were cheering for me. Today the home court was the best.”
Ito will now face the world number 117, Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, in the second round.
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