Andreas Haider-Maurer blows away Yann Marti in the first round – Suisse Open Gstaad 2011
World number 70, Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria, displayed his belligerent form to outclass the local qualifier, Yann Marti, in the opening round of Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, being played at the Credit Agricole Arena
in Gstaad, Switzerland, on Monday afternoon.
The Austrian exhibited his brilliant clay-court skills to absolutely devastate Marti in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, to make it into the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament. The Swiss
qualifier withstand his opponent’s fury for just 63 minutes before submitting in the second set to end the contest to the dismay of the local crowd.
Haider-Maurer made his magnificent serve his primary weapon of destruction to annihilate Marti in the contest. The Austrian served with 70 per cent precision in the game, firing six aces and securing 29 out of 35 first serve points
en route to victory. His serve remained unbroken in the entire contest, as Marti squandered away four precious break opportunities in the match to finish on the losing end.
The opening set was an all-Austrian show, with Haider-Maurer dominating every minute of play. His 74 per cent accurate serve earned him 12 out of 14 first serve points in the game, while Marti spilled a number of unforced errors
to remain on the back foot all the way. Haider-Maurer was very proactive in the game and raided the net plenty of times to convert some easy net volleys into elegant cross-court winners.
The unseeded Austrian drew first blood in the fourth game, when he broke his opponent’s serve to lead 3-1 and then didn’t allow Marti to hold serve in the rest of the set. A second serve break from Haider-Maurer in the sixth game
left him serving for the set and he convincingly closed out the opening set at 6-1 to get one up in the matchup.
Haider-Maurer carried on his winning momentum in the following set as well and registered his third serve break of the match in the third game to lead 2-1. Marti had four chances to break his opponent’s serve in the second set
but he carelessly frittered away all the opportunities to let Haider-Maurer away with victory. The Austrian continued to bag points on regularity to close out the contest at 6-4, getting a berth in the second round of the tournament.
Haider-Maurer will face either the sixth seeded Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or Santiago Giraldo of Colombia in the second round, after the clash between these two men get settled on Tuesday afternoon.
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