The first three games took just five minutes as Rubin Statham and Luca Margaroli each held to love to start their first round qualifying match at the ATP Challenger tournament in Brasilia this morning, but that momentum swung drastically the other way in the next game. Margaroli found himself at 0-40 after hitting a forehand over the baseline. He had reason to be aggrieved on the previous point, though, as the incoming ball from Statham which forced his error had landed just over the baseline. Forced return errors saved the first two break points, but a double fault undid that good work.
It was Statham’s turn to complain in the next game, when Margaroli was given the second point with a backhand return down the line. Statham’s first serve had landed way past the service line and, to top that off, it looked like Margaroli’s return had also gone long. Statham went on to hold serve anyway, and then forced Margaroli into a forehand error to take him to the first deuce of the match. Another double fault gave Statham the advantage, and a fabulous cross-court backhand winner from the New Zealander secured another break of serve. That left Statham serving for the set, and he coasted through the game to close it out after only 19 minutes on court.
Margaroli held serve to start the second set before hitting a fabulous backhand volley to win Statham’s second point. He hit a beautiful cross-court forehand volley on the way to winning the next game, which he finished with an ace, and Statham hit a beautiful backhand winner down the line as he, too, held serve again. Margaroli continued the sequence of winning service games before Statham held to love, but the “ace” which won him the second point clearly landed on the wrong side of the centre line. Margaroli hit two more aces in the next game, the second of which wasn’t recorded as such but still completed the hold. Statham held comfortably as well, but there were more complaints from Margaroli when he served next.
Statham hit a fabulous backhand winner down the line to take the second point, but Margaroli was taken to deuce when he hit a backhand into the net. That, however, came off a second serve, after Margaroli was annoyed when umpire Alide Morandini called the first serve long. Statham’s return of the next serve went into the net, but he forced a second deuce with a fabulous cross-court backhand return. Statham then hit a stunning backhand passing shot down the line to get the advantage, but gave that away with an overhit backhand. A double fault gave Statham another break point, which got saved by an unreturnable serve, and then came the best rally of the match. It wasn’t anything special in terms of quality, but it lasted for 22 shots until Statham hit a nice cross-court forehand winner. He followed that with a beautiful forehand winner down the line, and the longest game of the match was finally over after nine minutes and ten seconds.
The break meant that Statham was now serving for the match, but the controversies hadn’t yet come to an end. Three unreturnable serves gave Statham that many match points, but he double faulted on the first before what looked like an ace down the middle apparently secured the victory. Whoever was doing the stats for the match and the broadcast captions agreed, as it flashed up “Match finished” – except that umpire Morandini had called the serve a fault. It was a very good overrule, as my viewings of the replay showed the ball landing on the wrong side of the centre line – just like the one four games earlier. There was a great rally on the second serve, with Statham being forced to hit a cross-court forehand over the baseline at the end, but Margaroli’s return of the next serve went into the net to end the match after an hour and two minutes. The final score was 6-1, 6-4.