Alexander Peya upsets Nikola Ciric in the second round qualifiers of the Serbia Open
To the surprise of the local crowd, Alexander Peya of Austria defeated the eighth seeded Serb, Nikola Ciric in the second round qualifiers of the Serbia Open, being played at the Tennis Center Novak complex in Belgrade, Serbia
on Sunday. The Austrian laboured for two hours and twenty three minutes to conclude the three-set thriller at 6-0, 5-7, 7-6(1), and moved into the final round of the qualifying draws of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour event.
The 30-year-old Austrian veteran had a ballistic start to the contest, blowing away his opponent in the opening set without losing a single game but slumped in the second to let Ciric back in the game. Peya finally wrapped up an
emphatic victory in the final set tie breaker to route the Serb out of the tournament and moved one step closer to the main draws.
27-year-old Ciric had a sloppy start, gifting the first set to his opponent in the opening thirty minutes of play. He failed to hold serve in any of the games and secured merely eight out of 32 total points being played in the
game, with the Austrian winning the rest of the 24 points. Three doubles faults were recorded from his side, assisting his opponent to rocket away to 5-0. The dominating Austrian served out of the opener with ease at 6-0 in the most assertive manner.
Tide turned in the very next set as the eighth seed Serb bounced back very strongly at his opponent. Ciric not only cut down his error count, but also stung three serve breaks to push Peya on his back foot. The Serb nabbed 23 of
38 total serve points in the second set to put the pressure back on his opponent and took the set 7-5 to level the contest at 1-1.
The game became extremely intense in the decisive third set as the two players threw their best at each other to come out as the winner. Peya coughed three double faults but kept winning points on regularity to remain competitive
in the game. The two men exchanged a serve break before a tie breaker round was enforced at 6-6. Peya shifted his gears in the ultimate decider and gave away no chance to his opponent to come on top. The Austrian reeled off five straight points to close the
competition at 7-6(1) and advance to the final round of the qualifiers.
Peya’s next opponent is the Spaniard, Gerard Granollers-Pujol, who defeated Ervin Eleskovic of Sweden in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, in the second round at Belgrade.
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