Marcos is into the second round of the UNICEF Open after overcoming a tricky opening test in Arnaud Clement, 7-6(4), 6-3, on Monday at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
In his first grass-court match of the season, Marcos was challenged early as Clement broke serve to go up 3-0. It did not take Marcos long to find his way into the contest, though, and he broke back in the seventh game after out-rallying his French opponent.
In a swing in momentum, Marcos then broke serve to lead 5-4. However, he failed to close out the set on serve as former World No. 10 Clement hit back to force a tie-break. In the decider, Marcos broke to lead 5-3 as Clement netted a forehand, and went on to convert his first set point at 6-4 by hitting an ace.
The second set was a more one-sided affair for Marcos. He capitalised on his momentum by breaking Clement to lead 3-0 and, despite missing two match point chances in the eighth game, went on to serve out victory in the following game, finishing with an ace after one hour and 35 minutes.
Having seen top seed Nicolas Almagro and sixth seed Adrian Mannarino tumble out earlier in the day, it was a strong victory for the second-seeded Marcos. He goes on to face either home favourite Robin Haase or Germany’s Mischa Zverev.
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Go, Marcos!
