2014 champion, and number one seed at this year’s event, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez came back from a 6-1 walloping in the opening set of the second round of the Grand Prix Hassan II against Nicolas Almagro to prevail 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and advance to the quarter finals.
Both players wowed the crowd with a number of big backhand winners down the line but the deciding factor in the match was Almagro’s temperament. Once things started to go against he Murcia-born player his shoulders started to hunch and his shouting echoed around the centre court in Marrakech. Seeing this, Garcia-Lopez started to believe and knew he just had to remain in the encounter as his opponent would self-destruct. The number one seed thereby broke a three-match losing streak against his doubles partner and advanced the last eight, where he will meet Jiri Vesely.
Vesely got to this round by battling past Nikola Metkic by 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. The Czech is starting to find some form in Morocco after having just picked up a single victory on tour in 2016 before the event. “It was a tough match today. I didn’t play with a lot of confidence because I only won match before the beginning of this tournament. I’m very happy about this victory. I kept figthing and never gave up. It was a very important win for me”, said Vesely after his victory.
The draw is starting to shape up nicely in Marrakech as up and coming talents Pablo Carreño and Federico Delbonis will square off in a battle of the claycourters in the quarter finals after they put away Denis Istomin (6-3, 7-6) and Thiemo De Bakker (6-4, 6-4) respectively.
