by Maltese tennis player Alex Degabriele emerged victorious against the American Richard Zusman in the M15 tournament held on the hard courts of Monastir, Tunisia. In doubles, pairing with Kyle Gauci also saw the two stun the number four seeds.
Degabriele Defeats Zusman, but Thwarted by Reguig
The Maltese received a wildcard to compete in the main draw of the tournament and made the most of it against the American qualifier, Richard Zusman. Degabriele opened on serve and cruised to a commanding 5-0 lead in the opening set. The American appeared to throw a spanner in the works by delivering a solid hold to love to get on the scoreboard, before mounting the a break opportunity himself. However, Degbariele shut the door and secured the set 6-1.
The second set was a tighter affair which saw Zusman race into a 2-0 lead by breaking early himself. However, Degabriele soon levelled things, which set off a chain of breaks that kept going until 5-5, leading to an extended set. At that point it became a question of who was going to be able to deal the first hold of serve. The Maltese secured another break to nudge into the lead 6-5. As he served for the match, he faced a break point himself which looked to be heading towards a tie-break. However, the Maltese recovered to force a deuce, before claiming the first available match point to end the match in straight sets.
His second round fixture pitted him against the Algerian Samir Hanza Reguig who had progressed following a victory against the seventh seed Igor Gimenez. Two late breaks in the first set enabled Reguig to secure it 6-3. He then kept up the momentum by securing an early break to command a 3-0 lead in the second. Though the Maltese managed to get on the scoreboard, the Algerian sealed the victory comfortably by also winning the second set 6-1.
Pairing with Gauci to beat the Fourth Seeds
Alex Degabriele also paired with Maltese-Australian Kyle Gauci in the men’s doubles tournament which saw the two emerge victorious against the number four seeds, Dylan Salton and Kris Van Wyk. It was a tight affair that saw Degabriele and Gauci win the first set, after coming back from an initial break, to secure it 6-4. However, the South African duo did not let their heads drop and did not let their lead slip in the second, which they won 6-3 to force a deciding tie-break.
True to the rest of the match, the tie-break was another tense affair. Though Degabriele and Gauci raced to a 5-0 lead, Salton and Van Wyk fought back to reduce the gap to 6-4. The leaders nudged forward to 8-4, before the South African duo levelled things at 8-8. However, having led for so long, Degabriele and Gauci claimed the next two points to close out the tie-break 10-8 and thus the match in their favour.
The duo then faced the Italian pairing of Andrea Bacaloni and Lorenzo Lorusso who ended their run in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Though the two teams started on the right foot, the Italians nudged forward by a break in the middle of the set that Degabriele and Gauci could not recover. Having secured the first set, the Italians broke in the opening game of the second set before the two settled into a rhythm of service holds. At 4-2 the Italians managed a double break, but it was cancelled by Degabriele and Gauci. However, at 5-4 the latter duo could not manage another break of serve, enabling Bacaloni and Lorusso to close out the set 6-4, and the match in straight sets.
The victory in singles Alex Degabriele to pick up valuable ranking points in the ATP singles ranking. Having defeated the number four seeds alongside Kyle Gauci also suggests that the two may share more courts together in doubles tournaments.
Photos: Kyle Gauci / Alex Degabriele
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