Thomaz Bellucci, of Brazil, in action against Tommy
Robredo, of Spain, at the Heineken Open in Auckland today.
Photo by NZPA
Spain's Nicolas Almagro and Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci have
become the first players to advance to the quarterfinals of the
Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland.
Almagro beat Romania's Victor Hanescu in two tight sets 6-4,
7-6, while Bellucci required three sets to defeat former top
10 player Tommy Robredo, of Spain, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Playing his first singles match in Auckland this tournament
after advancing straight into the second round by virtue of
his second seeding, Almagro was more clinical on the big
points than Hanescu.
Hanescu had plenty of opportunities to break Almagro's serve
- he had six break points compared with Almagro's three - but
he could only convert one of them, while Almagro broke
Hanescu's serve twice.
The Romanian had a much better first serve percentage as well
- 71% to 51% - but the Romanian won just 38% of points on his
second serve, compared with Almagro's 59%.
Almagro, generally a clay court specialist, will play the
winner of today's all-French clash between Adrian Mannarino
and Arnaud Clement in the quarterfinals.
Bellucci will play the winner of the match between fourth
seed Albert Montanes, of Spain, and Santiago Giraldo, of
Colombia.
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