STARNBERG, December 3, 2020
Pedro Sousa is the winner of the all-Portuguese affair with wild card entry Gastao Elias, a second round match at the Maia Open on Thursday. The No. 2 seed of the €44,820 indoor clay-court event converted five of his 16 break-point opportunities to secure a 6-2, 6-4 victory in one hour and 48 minutes.
“It was a 6-2, 6-4 after almost two hours of play, which shows that the match was even,” said Elias, quoted by raquet.com. “There was one or another ball which made the difference in the first set and he managed to break my serve. The story in the second set, however, was different. Although he started better, I took an early lead but he played very well when he was 4-2 down, made zero unforced errors and was very aggressive. It was a shame, because I think today’s match deserved at least a third set,” added the former Top 60 player, currently ranked World No. 429.
“It was a tough encounter. The result doesn’t really reflect it. It was an even match,” said Sousa, who will next take on Kimmer Coppejans from Belgium.
Later on Centre Court at the Complexo Municipal de Ténis da Maia, Andrea Arnaboldi, who knocked out top seed Pedro Martinez of Spain in the opening round, battled past Frederico Ferreira Silva from Portugal, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. The 32-year-old Italian won four points less than his opponent but advanced after two hours and 47 minutes.
Over on Court 4, Jozef Kovalik fought past Turkish qualifier Altug Celikbilek 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The No. 3 seed from Slovakia struck five aces and won 53 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after two hours and 11 minutes. Up next for Kovalik will be No. 8 seed Carlos Taberner of Spain, who beat Alexey Vatutin from Russia 7-6(6), 6-3. The match lasted one hour and 49 minutes.
#MaiaOpen QFs:
🇮🇹 Andrea Arnaboldi vs. 🇭🇷 Duje Ajdukovic
🇸🇰 Jozef Kovalik vs. 🇪🇸 Carlos Taberner
🇪🇸 Bernabe Zapata Miralles vs. 🇨🇭 Henri Laaksonen
🇧🇪 Kimmer Coppejans vs. 🇵🇹 Pedro Sousa pic.twitter.com/fVQjJt6cbt— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) December 3, 2020
