Ernests Gulbis improves to 5-0 lifetime against Jarkko Nieminen on Monday in Rome. Gulbis is joined in the second round by Philipp Kohlschreiber, a straight-set winner over Milos Raonic.
Ernests Gulbis d. Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 7-6(6)
Gulbis improved to 10-0 lifetime in total sets against Nieminen after prevailing in one hour and 38 minutes during first-round action at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Monday. Nieminen, who won only five total games off Gulbis in Marseille and just six last month in Munich, looked similarly hopeless throughout the opening set of this one. He saved none of the break points he faced on his own serve while winning a mere five points in four return games. Gulbis earned his second break of the day at 5-2 to finish off the set in style.
The Stadio Pietrangeli faithful enjoyed a far more entertaining second. In fact, Nieminen had a golden opportunity to take a set off Gulbis for the first time. The 31-year-old Finn had five break chances to begin the set and watched one more go by the wayside at 3-3 when his opponent cracked a winning backhand. Still, Nieminen at least managed to force a tiebreaker for just the second time in his career versus Gulbis.
Nieminen never had a lead in the ensuing ‘breaker, but he did well–in part thanks to Gulbis–to make it close. The world No. 46 raced to a 4-0 advantage and eventually played his way to triple match point at 6-3. Nieminen fought off the first two on his serve before Gulbis sprayed a wild double-fault at 6-5. Gulbis, however, took care of his next service point then finally clinched victory with some incredible defense at 7-6. Solid baseline play and and impressive numbers on his first serve (80 percent of those points won), helped the qualifier overcome eight double-faults. Nieminen wrapped up his effort with one ace and two doubles while winning just 42 percent of his second-serve points.
Philipp Kohlschreiber d. (14) Milos Raonic 7-6(2), 6-4
Kohlschreiber held all 11 of his service games without facing a break point to beat Raonic in one hour and 17 minutes on Monday. Neither man had a single break chance in a competitive first set. The ensuing tiebreaker, however, progressed in much different fashion. In fact, Raonic did not win a single service point in the entire ‘breaker. The 16th-ranked Canadian got back two straight mini-breakers for 2-3 only to lose four points in a row.
It was all but over when Kohlschreiber seized the lone break of the evening at 3-3 in the second. The unseeded German dropped only seven points in his last five service games, two of which came in succession starting at 5-4, 30-0. Kohlschreiber managed to bring up a match point at 40-30 and he capitalized on his chance with a clean forehand winner. The world No. 22 finished with four aces and no double-faults on his way to a second-round clash against Albert Ramos. Milos Raonic, who just split from coach Galo Blanco, wrapped up his effort with seven aces and two doubles.
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