Chela eases through quarters in Bucharest

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Chela eases through quarters in Bucharest

Defending champion Juan Ignacio Chela has made an impressive debut at the Romanian clay event when the Argentine crashed Florent Serra in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0 to meet Andreas Seppi in the quarter finals.

Chela grabbed three breaks only in the first set when he gave the French no chance to build a break point. Serra saved four break points, though, but he would the opener very easily. The second set looked almost the same as the first one. The first favorite Chela broke Serra three more times and saved five break points coming from the opposite to clinch the win in nearly one hour and a half.

The Argentine finished the game with a 79 first serve percentage, two aces, a double fault and won 71 percent of service points and 61 of return ones, compared to Serra’s 59 first serve percentage, a poor 29 return one and an ace. Serra also won 39 percent of service points and failed to convert any of the five break points.

Chela, who had been favored by a BYE in the opener, will next meet Andres Seppi who beat Igor Andreev in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. The seventh seed Italian won the first term thanks to a couple of break conversions, but had a very hard life in the second term when he conceded a service to allow Andreev push the meeting into a third set decider.

Seppi set the pace in the last term, managing to steal a couple of more services from the Russian who lost the clash in over two hours. Seppi finished the game with a 61 first serve percentage, a 43 return one, winning at the same 70 percent of service points.

On the other side, Andreev came up with a 63 first serve percentage, three aces, three double faults, a 30 return percentage, and a 57 service one. He only converted one out of ten break points, compared to Italian’s four out of six breaks.

Sepii will meet world number 23 Chela for the fourth time, the head to head series having gone 2-1 to the Italian who won both previous meetings in India Wells and Umag back in 2009. Chela’s only win comes from the 2006 New Haven.

Second seed Florian Mayer has made his debut at the Romanian event with a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 win against Calros Berlocq whom he ousted in more than two hours. The Austrian broke Carlos three times in the opener but conceded the second set after dropping three services. Mayer failed to convert any of the five break points he built within the second round so he was pushed to the third term decider which he would dominate entirely.

Mayer broke his opponent a couple of more times to win the term at three four. He won 63 percent of first serve points, 45 of return ones and 56 of service points. On the other side, Berlocq had a 68 first serve percentage, a 44 return one, four aces and five breaks, insufficient for a win, though.

Next up for the Austrian is Albert Ramos who had a hard life against Pere Riba whom the Spaniard edged in three sets after losing the opener, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. Riba converted two out of eight break points in the opener to take an easy win and suggest an easier win against the Spaniard.

Ramos recovered the deficit in the second term when he managed to break Pere amid the term and get one more chance to pick the win. Riba failed to convert his couple of break points, permitting the Spaniard to transform the clash into a third setter.

Finally, the decider brought the Spaniard a couple of precious breaks which helped him to set a two game lead later in the term and grab a hard fought win. Ramos won 66 percent of first serve points, 63 of service ones and 40 of returning points, hitting at the same time seven aces. As for Riba, his showing included a 54 first serve percentage, three aces, a 60 service percentage and two double faults.

He only converted three out of 12 break points, compared to Ramos’s three out of ten. World number 87 Ramos will meet Mayer for the first time ever, being expected to start the quarter final as second favorite in front of the 27 year old.

The same day, Filippo Volandri provided the biggest surprise of the event when the Italian ousted third favorite Marcel Granollers in two easy sets, 6-1, 6-3. It took the Italian nearly one hour and a half to make the progress into the final eight where he will meet Joao Souza.

Volandri, who has rarely reached superior phases this season, broke the French twice in the opener when he also managed to save a break point coming from the opposite side. He set the pace in the second term, as well, going three games atop of his opponent thanks to three more break conversions.

The Italian finished the game with a 76 first serve percentage, two double faults and five out of eight break point conversions, compared to his opponent who won 35 percent of return points, 47 of service ones and 61 of first serve balls.

His next opponent Joao Souza overcame crowd favorite Adrian Ungur 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, needing nearly three hours to advance through the quarter finals. Ungur was very close to winning the match in the second set which he pushed into a tie break. The Romanian won six mini breaks only to be pushed into a third set decider by a stubborn Souza who left him two points behind within the breaker.

The last set saw the same Brazilian improve his pace and Ungur lose it by each game. Joao broke his opponent twice and managed to keep his service sheet clean throughout the entire term, clinching the win in high style.

Souza won 65 percent of first serve balls, hit 13 aces and converted four out of 16 break points. He also set a 44 return percentage and a 63 service one, compared to the Romanian’s 64 first serve percentage, 37 return one, three aces and three double faults.

On the first half of the draw, Pablo Andujar, finalist at this term’s Stuttgart event, is to meet Alessandro Giannessi of Italy in the last eight term. The Spaniard ousted Romania’s Marius Copil 6-2, 6-3. Fourth seed Andujar broke the host twice in the opener when he also did not give his opponent any chance to convert any of the two break points.

The second set saw the two exchange four breaks, though, but it was the Spaniard to set a two game lead thanks to three conversions which helped him to clinch the twin easily. Andujar came up with a solid 71 first serve percentage, five breaks and a 57 return percentage, while the Romanian had a 65 first serve percentage, a 31 return one, five aces, four double faults and a 43 service percentage.

His next opponent Alessandro Giannessi edged Frederico Gil of Portugal in three sets, 7-6, 0-6, 6-3. Gil pushed the opener into a breaker he would never get the chance to dominate though. The Portuguese was left vie points behind to drop the first lead easily.

But against the way of the first set, Gil rallied past his opponent during the second set. Gil kept the sheet clean throughout the entire round to push the tight game into a third set decider. Giannessi, who is in front of his best performance of the year, broke the Portuguese amid the term and saved all the three break points from Gil who conceded the victory despite the second set momentum.

The Italian finished the game with a 66 first serve percentage, a 58 service one, three breaks and six double faults, compared to his opponent’s six aces, a 61 first serve percentage and a 42 return one.

Bucharest Prize Money and points:

Winner – 67,750 euro and 250 points ATP

Finalist – 35,600 euro and 150 points ATP

Semi finalist – 19,300 euro and 90 points ATP

Quarter finalist – 11,000 euro and 45 points ATP

R16 – 6,465 euro and 20 points ATP

R28 – 3,845 euro and zero points

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