ATP Marrakech: Day Two Recap

Day two of Grand Prix Hassan II saw mixed bags for the seeded players in action. Paul-Henri Mathieu and Daniel Gimeno-Traver were amongst some of the players to cause upsets.

Sixth seed books spot in round two

Six seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas got broken in his opening service game by Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who then gifted the break straight back to the Spaniard for 1-1. The world number 50 broke at 3-3 and consolidated to go up 5-3 in the set. The Frenchman then earned two late breaks to seal the opening set 7-5 against all odds. The second set was much tighter, with both players continuing to hold their service games. At 4-3, the only and crucial break of the game came and Mathieu broke and sealed a 7-5, 6-3 victory. The Frenchman will now come up against qualifier Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in the second round.

Clinical Vesely through

Jiri Vesely got his week underway in spectacular fashion against Spaniard Inigo Cervantes. In the opening set, the man from Czech Republic raced away to a 4-1 lead, before closing out the opening set 6-1 in 30 minutes. The second set was much closer, with the games varying from short and long. The only break point of the set came 3-2 on Vesely’s serve. He broke and from then on in he completed a 6-1, 6-3. Jiri Vesely converted four out of eight break points and saved five out of five.

Daniel Gimeno-Traver causes upset as fifth seed is sent packing

Fifth seed Teymuraz Gabashvili was being put under pressure from the start. With Daniel Gimeno-Traver holding his serve, he broke for a comfortable 3-0 lead. At 4-1, the 30-year-old has chance to seal a double break, but the Russian managed to win the point and from then on in hold. Gimeno-Traver needed only one set point to take the first 6-3. The second set was much closer and with the set going on serve, Gimeno-Traver broke on his fourth break point of the set and now led the Russian by a set and a break up. Gimeno-Traver closed out victory on his second match point to take the match 6-3, 6-4.

Other results

On Centre Court, Nicolas Almagro defeated Radu Albot of Moldova 6-4, 6-3. He needed just one break of serve to take the opening set, while in the second set he broke at the start and at the end of the match to clinch victory and book his spot in the third round, where he faces fellow countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a mouth-watering clash. Almagro is looking to make his second clay-court final of the season, after finishing runners-up to Dominic Thiem in Buenos Aires in February.

Nicolas Almagro opens up against Moldovian Radu Albot (Photo:Argentina Open)

Denis Istomin defeated Italian qualifier Lorenzo Giustino 7-6(1), 6-4, which was won 7-1 by the 29-year old. There was no break of serves in the opening set as Istomin need a tiebreaker to decide the set. The second on the other hand saw three breaks of serve, one after the other, but it was the Uzbek who claimed the second and the victory. Denis Istomin won 78 percent first serve points and 69 percent on his second serve, which were key in getting him the win.

Simone Bolelli saw off Japanese Taro Daniel 7-5, 6-4 to make round two. The Italian broke at 4-2 in the opener, but later in the set conceded that break and Daniel broke back and got the set on serve once more. With Daniel serving to take the set into a tiebreaker, Bolelli sealed the first set on his third match point. The second set saw the games get increasingly longer, but the 30-year old from Bologna, Italy saved a number of breaks points, but needed only one break for the victory. Simone Bolelli will face rising star, Borna Coric in round two.

Wildcard 18-year-old Amine Ahouda shown great fighting spirit throughout the match as he faced Dutch Thiemo De Bakker. Both players were holding serve pretty comfortably, with the rallies being long ones. With the set at 6-5, De Bakker broke and sealed the first set 7-5. The Dutchman continued his momentum and broke the youngster in the first game of the second set, he then consolidated until the sixth game, where Ahouda showed some of that fighting spirit from the first set and broke back. Ultimately the set would be decided on the breaker, which the Moroccan would go on to lose 7-2 and the match 7-5, 7-6(2).