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4/20/09 5:50 PM | Ricky Dimon
Igor Andreev outlasts Andreas Seppi in three sets to reach the second round of the Open Banco Sabadell in Barcelona. Next up for Seppi is wildcard Alberto Martin.
Igor Andreev came back from the brink of defeat to oust Andreas Seppi 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of Barcelona, Spain's Open Banco Sabadell on Monday afternoon. Andreev needed two hours and 10 minutes to set up a second-round meeting with Alberto Martin, who knocked out Marc Gicquel in straight sets.
For a while it looked like Andreev would improve his head-to-head record over Seppi to 5-1 without too much difficulty. The No. 12 seed won more than half of his return points even when Seppi put his first serve in play, and that helped him seize two breaks in the opening set. Andreev gave one of the breaks back, but a service hold at 5-3 finished the set off in style.
Seppi completely turned his game around in set two, especially on serve. The Italian made an impressive 88 percent of his first serves and won 19 of 23 first-serve points. He also started being more aggressive with his opponent's second offerings, and one break was enough for Seppi to return the 6-3 favor.
The world No. 40 sustained the momentum by going up an early break in the third. Although Seppi threw the lead away shortly therafter, he regained it en route to a seemingly decisive 5-3 advantage. Andreev held serve to stay in the match for 4-5, then the 26th-ranked Russian broke to 15, leveling the set at 5-5. Finally there would be no more momentum swings. Andreev held easily for 6-5 and broke to 15 yet again to close out the proceedings.
As is often the case when Seppi and Andreev square off, Andreev was simply too tough in the crucial stages of the match. In six career encounters, he has now won four in three sets. Andreev and Martin, meanwhile, have met twice before, with Andreev leading the series 2-0.
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