Before his breakthrough 2014 season, which included winning his maiden title at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg, Leonardo Mayer, currently ranked 21st  in the world, had struggled on the lawns of Wimbledon only reaching the second round at best. But after dispatching Marcel Granollers, the 72nd-ranked Spaniard, Mayer, for the second year in a row, posted a third round or better result at the world’s most famous lawn.

The Argentine built his first set win in the fourth game of the set, when he broke his counterpart at 15. Consolidating the break at love next, Mayer and Granollers exchanged holds, as the former top-20 player only pressured Mayer's serve in the ninth and final game of the set – the only occasion in which the seed was pushed to a deuce situation and had to fight a break point. The Corrientes native however forced two errors from then on, closing out the set at 6/3.

In the second set, Leonardo Mayer faced break points already in his second service game, but survived and held for 2/2. He would then find himself on the verge of losing his service again in the 8th game, but a volley, a forehand and a backhand winner saved him from falling behind in the scores. Even though he failed to even claim break points to his favor in the frame, the 24th seed eventually prevailed in the tiebreak, going up 5-2 then finishing the set with a service winner, claiming it 7-4, racing to a two-set lead.

The final set was once again decided in the details and by one break. Granollers lost his service in the fourth game at 15, and even though the Spaniard fended off match points down 2/5, Mayer only sealed the deal in the next game, putting the icing on the cake with a volley winner.

Mayer now faces 14th-seeded Kevin Anderson, trying to book a spot in the second week of Wimbledon for the second consecutive year. The head-to-head, however, favors the South African, who holds a 2-1 advantage over the South American.  

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About the author
Pete Liguori
Sports writer for the Racing and Tennis sections on VAVEL. Also a huge baseball and football fan. Trying to live the Big City dream. Follow me on Twitter, chaps: @PeteUSSports