Antonio Veic crushes Artem Smirnov to enter round two – Banja Luka 2012 CH
Fourth seed, Antonio Veic, slaughtered the Ukrainian qualifier, Artem Smirnov, with a bagel at the Banja Luka 2012, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He jolted down a 6-4, 6-0 victory
against his fellow 24-year-old to secure a spot in the second round on Tuesday.
The Croatian seed reeled off last seven games consecutively to carve out the victory in straight sets. After earning the fame in one hour and 34 minutes, Veic comfortably advanced into the round of 16 at this outdoor clay court event.
Just 16 days older than his opponent, Veic enthusiastically entered the Bosnian courts. He drew the first blood in the fourth game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. He then stayed focused and after exchanging two serve breaks, the Croat pulled out the opener with
a 6-4 score line. He amazingly warded off six out of eight breakpoints he faced and availed three out of four break chances.
Ranked 137th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Veic went berserk into the second set. He stroke out all six games successively and pocketed a bagel. The Croat was never threatened with any breakpoint and cashed in all three
break opportunities to earn the fame.
Veic will face off the German challenger, Simon Greul, who crippled Netherlands’ Matwe Middelkoop with a breadstick to reach this spot.
The third seed, Victor Hanescu, will join the Croat in the following round. He devastated the Spanish contestant, Jose Checa-Calvo, with a breadstick to advance.
The Romanian winded up the last six games to formulate a 6-3, 6-1 score line. He required a single break of serve in the opening set to inch towards the limelight.
Hanescu perfected his game in the proceeding set and after breaking the Spaniard’s serve three times, he recorded a spectacular 6-1 score line.
Next in line for the third seed is the local contestant, Aldin Setkic. The Bosnian rising star made an epic comeback from a set down to triumph over Czech Republic’s Jan Mertl with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5 score line.
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