Borut Puc, Josko Topic move to the second round qualifier – Bet-at-home Cup 2011
Borut Puc beats Louk Sorensen 7-6(4), 7-5
In a match between two low ranked players, world number 466 Borut Puc of Croatia prevailed over world number 478 Louk Sorensen of Ireland in straight sets 7-6(4), 7-5 in the first round of the qualifying draw at the Bet-at-home
Cup in Kitzbuhel, Austria on Saturday.
Puc and Sorensen held their service games throughout the first set to square off the score at 6-6 and forced the set to a tie-break. The Croatian hit a couple of back hand winners to claim two mini-breaks in the tie-break, winning
it 7-4.
Both players broke each other twice in the first ten games of the second set to equalise the score at 5-5. Puc claimed the decisive break of serve in the eleventh game and consolidated on it to clinch the set 7-5. The Croatian
took an hour and 53 minutes to beat his opponent.
Josko Topic defeats Gibril Diarra 6-3, 6-2
Joining Puc in the second round, compatriot Josko Topic dismissed Gibril Diarra of Austria in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to move to the second round of the qualifying draw.
Diarra drew the first blood as he broke the Croatian in the first game of the opening set to take a 1-0 lead but he was broken back immediately to equalise the score at 1-1. Topic broke the Austrian again in the sixth game and
consolidated on it to win the set 6-3. The Croatian could not save the only break point he faced but capitalised on two of the four break points he received on Diarra’s serve in the first set.
In a similar fashion to the first set, Diarra was first to take lead, breaking Topic in the second game to go ahead 2-0. However, once again he could not sustain the lead as he lost six consecutive games, getting broken three times
to lose the set 2-6. Topic sealed seven of the nine first service and eleven of the seventeen first return points in the second set. The Croatian won three of the four break points he received in the second set. The match lasted for just an hour and one minute.
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