Antonio Veic overcomes Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first round – Bet-At-Home Cup 2011
Croatian qualifier Antonio Veic, ranked 196th in the world, fought back from a set down to upset world number 70 Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria in three sets 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 in the first round at the Bet-At-Home Cup
in Kitzbuhel on Tuesday. The match lasted for two hours and 23 minutes.
Veic drew the first blood, breaking the Austrian in the first game of the opening set and holding his serve in the next game to grab a 2-0 lead. Haider-Maurer broke back in the fourth game to square off the score at 2-2. Both players
failed to hold their serve in the next two games to take the score to 3-3. Veic and Haider-Maurer managed to hold their serve in the next six games and tied the score at 6-6, forcing a tie-break. The Austrian hit some superb shots in the tie-break, winning
it 7-3.
Haider-Maurer hit 56 percent of the first serves and a couple of aces in the opening set. The Austrian saved three of the five break points he faced on his own serve and converted two of the four break points he received on the
Croatian’s serve in the first set.
After losing the set with the closest of margins, Veic broke the Austrian in the opening game of the second set but failed to hold his serve in the next game to tie the score at 1-1. The Croatian, however, broke again in the third
game and this time he succeeded in consolidating on the break of serve, taking a 3-1 lead. Veic served out the set at 5-4.
The Croatian kept his first serve percentage at 57 percent and delivered three aces in the second set. The 23-year-old won most of the return points, sealing 50 percent of the first return points in the second set.
Haider-Maurer and Veic held their serve in the first five games of the final set to take the score to 3-2 in favour of the latter. The Croatian broke his opponent in the sixth and eighth game and captured the set 6-2.
Veic grabbed 69 percent of the first service points and 77 percent of the second service points in the third set. Just like the second set, the Croatian made huge difference with his attacking service returns, claiming a total
of 46 percent of the receiving points.
The Zagreb resident will play world number 33 Marcel Granollers of Spain in the second round. The Spaniard beat Filippo Volandri in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the first round.
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