Andreas Haider-Maurer and Matteo Viola through to the second round at 2011 Barletta Open
Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria earned a hard fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory against local Fabio Fognini to book his place in the second round of Barletta Open in Italy.
The match was played on a highly competitive note. The 24-year-old Austrian broke the serve early in the opening set to put his opponent under extreme pressure. He used his well placed shots to great effect and forced his opponents
to make mistakes. Andreas then held on to his serve games to lead the set score 1-0.
In the following set, Fognini fought back brilliantly. He looked down and out in the first set but put up a brave show to win the second set with a crucial serve break. Fognini’s serve was impressive and won him important points
during the set.
Both players exchanged breaks in the decider and tried to assert dominance over one another. Andreas converted two long rallies in his favour and started to hit the ball very cleanly. He broke the serve in the 9th game
of the set to complete a deserving victory after 2 hours and 13 minutes of play.
The Austrian tennis-pro created match winning opportunities with his strong attacking ability and also kept his defense intact. His strong ground play ensured his firm control in the contest. The 24 year old achieved 65 percent
first serve conversion and won nearly 45 percent of the points on return.
Ranked world number 116th in the world, Andreas has achieved considerable results on the tour in the last few months. He reached his career high ranking of world number 113 in November 2010 following significant performances
against top ranked players. Andreas will surely take a lot of confidence from his win over an opponent who is ranked much higher than himself. He reached his maiden ATP Tour final in Vienna last year and is hoping to break into top 100.
“I’m happy with the first final, but I was up 7-6, 5-3, I served for the match. I had big chances to win this title, but it’s the first time. I was a little bit nervous. Jurgen played good in this moment, and I lost. For sure I
had a dream come true because now I’m near Top 100, and this is my next goal. I can learn a lot for the future and I’m happy."
In another match Matteo Viola of Italy crushed Pierre Hugues Herbert of France 6-1, 6-0. Ranked 208 in the world, Viola dropped only a game in the match and required only 58 minutes dispatching his opponent.
Viola played aggressively and converted 5 out 7 break points to ensure an easy win for him. His opponent on the other looked clueless against some high quality tennis display.
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