Antonio Veic surprises Nikolay Davydenko to make it to the third round – French Open 2011
Crowds at Paris, France, were in for another surprise as the unseeded Croatian, Antonio Veic outplayed world umber 30, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the second round clash of Roland Garros on Thursday afternoon. He took down the
Russian competitor 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, in a three hour and 19 minutes thriller to book a berth in the third round of the French Open.
Veic began the contest as the underdog but gradually made his mark in the game to surprise everyone. He dropped the opener to Davydenko but bounced right back in the following two sets to get a 2-1 lead in the contest. The Russian
then took pace to reel the fourth set but the Croatian proved too good in the final set, registering an assertive victory over the former three.
It was only the second victory Veic achieved in the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, while Davydenko had already won 13 matches this year. The Russian served with great accuracy, reaching 77 per cent in
the contest, but his 47 unforced errors eventually wore him out in the later parts of the game.
30-year-old Russian veteran took hold of the game early in the opener but lost his focus in the middle parts of the match. He regrouped later to clinch the fourth set but went through a drastic slump in the decisive set to lose
the game to Veic.
Plenty of serve breaks were witnessed in the contest, with Veic registering 10 and Davydenko following him with seven. Despite of a par first serve accuracy of 54 percent, the Croatian reeled off 48 out of 76 first serve points
in the game and cracked 43 winners en route to victory.
After dropping the opening set to the Russian, Veic made a strong comeback in the game to outclass Davydenko in the second set, breaking him twice to reach 6-2. He kept his winning momentum in the game, clinching the next set 7-5
before Davydenko finally broke his flow in the fourth set.
The Russian levelled the contest with two sets apiece after he closed the fourth set at 6-3, enforcing a decisive fifth. Davydenko completely lost his steam in the final set and dropped serve three times before Veic concluded an
emphatic victory over him at 6-1.
The ultimate challenge still remains for Veic, as he will take on world number one, Rafael Nadal of Spain in the third round of the Grand Slam tournament. Nadal was successful against his fellow compatriot, Pablo Andujar, in straight
sets 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(4), in the second round encounter of the French Open.
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