Thomaz Bellucci stuns Bernard Tomic to enter quarters – Mercedes Cup 2012
Brazilian star, Thomaz Bellucci, shocked the third seed, Bernard Tomic, in straight sets at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Thursday. He penned down a 7-6(6), 6-3 victory against the Australian number one to book a spot in the final eight at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Stuttgart.
Bellucci displayed top class performance to record this upset victory in one hour and 47 minutes. Battling each other for the first time, the Brazilian not only edged in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 1-0 against
Tomic but also booked a spot in the quarter-finals.
"It was very tough," said Bellucci in a courtside interview after the match. "At the beginning of the match I was a little bit nervous. When I was 1-4 down, I started to play better and in the second set I was feeling more comfortable and more confident."
The 24-year-old made a nervy entry at the Tennis Club Weissenhof and after suffering the first blow in the second game, he fell at 0-3. However, he stayed calm and not only recovered in the seventh game but broke his rival’s serve once again to go 6-5 up.
Despite squandering his chance of serving out the set, Bellucci edged past the teenager in the tie-breaker and clicked the opener with a 7-6(6) win.
Ranked 64th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Bellucci improved his game in the follow-up set. He blocked the only breakpoint he came across to pluck his entire serves. The Brazilian cashed in the lone break opportunity in
the sixth game and sealed the set by winning six games to three.
Overall, the left-handed Brazilian spilled more errors and recorded a lower first serve share of 57 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 61 per cent. However, he impressively marked 34 out of 47 points on it and hammered nine aces to earn the limelight.
Next up for the Sao Paulo resident is the local challenger, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who bounced back to outsmart France’s Jeremy Chardy in three sets to set up this battle.
The second seed, Juan Monaco, faced a better fate later that day. He took down Germany’s Tobias Kamke in straight sets in one hour and 23 minutes. The Argentinean lost his serve once but cashed in half of the eight break chances to pull out the victory.
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