Fernando Verdasco kicked off his 2010 Barcelona campaign on Wednesday with a straight-set victory over Richard Gasquet. Verdasco moves safely through to the third round.
Fernando Verdasco maintained his fine form with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Richard Gasquet in the second round of the Barcelona Open BancSabadell on Wednesday evening. Verdasco, who finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal last week in Monte-Carlo, needed one hour and 19 minutes to set up a meeting with No. 11 seed Jurgen Mezler.
Gasquet recovered from an early break in the first set to get back on serve, but he imploded at the pressure moments. A dismal service game by the 78th-ranked Frenchman at 5-5 ended with a wild forehand error and gave his opponent a chance to serve out the opening frame of play. Verdasco made no mistake, clinching it when Gasquet donated a backhand error.
Barcelona's No. 5 seed seized complete control with a break at 2-2 in the second set. Gasquet had break chances in two consecutive games to get back within striking distance, but Verdasco was the far better player on the bigger points. The ninth-ranked Spaniard held en route to a 5-3 lead and closed out the proceedings with his fourth break of serve. Verdasco set up match point with a crushing backhand and Gasquet double-faulted to end the proceedings.
Gasquet won a dismal six off 22 second-serve points during the match. Verdasco, on the other hand, won 57 percent of the points when he had to toss in a second offering.
Verdasco beat Gasquet for the fifth straight time, improving to 5-4 lifetime against his opponent. Melzer, who beat Oscar Hernandez 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5 in two hours and 47 minutes, is 1-4 for his career against Verdasco.
Source : tennistalk.com