Top seed Albert Montanes advances to the quarterfinal of Grand Prix Hassan II
World number 24, Spanish Albert Montanes cruised past Italian Filippo Volandri in straight sets in the second round at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca on Thursday. The Spaniard dropped just five games, winning 6-1, 6-4 in
just one hour and 18 minutes.
Montanes thrashed Volandri in the opening set as he broke the Italian twice and allowed him to win just a single game in the entire set, claiming it 6-1.
The Spaniard fired two aces in the first set. He hit 55 per cent of the first serves, winning a whopping 91 per cent of the points on them in the opening set. Montanes did not face a single break point in the set. On the other
hand, Volandri faced four break points and managed to save just two of them in the opening set.
The second set saw both players breaking each other’s serve on a number of occasions. Seven of the ten service games were broken in the second set. However, it was Montanes who claimed four of the seven breaks, winning the set
6-4.
The Spaniard served pretty well as he fired in six aces and did not commit any double fault in the second set. The right-handed delivered 45 per cent of the first serves, winning 79 per cent of the points on them. On the other
hand, Volandri did not serve that well, hitting 57 per cent of the first serves and converting just 43 per cent of them into points in the second set. The Italian could save just four of the eight break points he faced in the second set.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Montanes said, "The first match in a tournament is always difficult. I'm happy with my performance today. I'm happy to be here and hope to continue playing well and get some rhythm at the
start of the clay season.”
The Spaniard added, “I always play well here in Casablanca. I don't think about reaching the final, I go match by match. Then we'll see what happens."
Montanes improved his win career loss/record to 8-4 at the Grand Prix Hassan II. In his first appearance here, Montanes was defeated by the local favourite Younes El Aynaoui, ranked 17th at that time, in three sets 6-3,
3-6, 2-6 in the round of 32. He lost to French Florent Serra in straight sets 4-6, 4-6 in the semi-finals last year.
The Spaniard is drawn to play another Italian Fabio Fognini, ranked 52nd in the world, in the quarterfinals. Fognini defeated world number 90 Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia in three sets 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the second round.
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