Victor Hanescu upsets Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the final of Open de Nice Côte d’Azur
World number 69, Romanian Victor Hanescu cruised past Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, ranked 23rd in the world, in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur at Nice Lawn Tennis Club in
Nice on Friday. Hanescu took just an hour and 13 minutes to undo his opponent.
Both players held their serve in the first five games of the opening set, taking the score to 3-2 in Hanescu’s favour. The Romanian broke Dolgopolov in the sixth game and consolidated on it to take a 5-2 lead. Dolgopolov managed
to reduce his opponent’s lead to 5-3 as he held his serve in the eighth game. However, Hanescu gave no more chances, serving out the set in the next game to claim it 6-3.
The Romanian failed to deliver an ace but hit a couple of double faults in the first set. The six feet and six inches tall hit 67 percent of the first serves correctly and grabbed a whopping 86 percent of the points on them in
the opening set. On the other hand, Dolgopolov fired three aces and 70 percent of the first deliveries, winning 81 percent of the points on them. The Ukrainian struggled with his second serve as he converted a meagre 14 percent of them into points in the first
set. The 22-year-old could not capitalize on the two break point opportunities he created and failed to save the only break point on his own serve in the opening set.
Dolgopolov started strongly in the second set as he broke Hanescu in the second game to go ahead 2-0. However, the Romanian regained his momentum and thrashed Dolgopolov in the rest of the set, clinching six of the next seven games
to win it 6-3.
Hanescu kept his first serve percentage at 74 percent in the second set, grabbing 65 percent of the points on them. In comparison, Dolgopolov had a much lower first serve percentage, delivering just 53 percent of the first serves
and converting 61 percent of them into points. The right-handed kept struggling with his second serve as he won just four of the 16 second service points in the second set. Hanescu won three of the seven break points on Dolgopolov’s serve and saved one of
the two break points on his own serve in the second set.
The Romanian has reached the first ATP World Tour final of the season. Before this, the right-hander’s best performance was at the Grand Prix Hassan II, where he lost to Italian Potito Starace in three sets 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-7(2)
in the semi-finals.
Hanescu will take on world number 12 Nicolas Almagro of Spain in the title match. The Spaniard beat world number 6 Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals.
Tags: