Daniel Brands stuns Ivan Dodig in the opening round – BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2012
German qualifier, Daniel Brands, surprised everyone in Bucharest Romania, by defeating the eighth seeded Croat tennis ace, Ivan Dodig, in the first round clash of the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Tuesday. The 119th ranked
German wrapped up the proceedings in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-2, to earn a spot in the round of 16 at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The 24-year-old Brands took one hour and 40 minutes to register his first victory of the running professional circuit. He went through some real tough channels in the opening set but eventually took down the eighth seed Croatian
in the tie-breaker to get one up. Once getting his eye set in the game. The German qualifier went absolutely berserk in the following set and went for an all-round onslaught against Dodig. He spared just two games for the 77th ranked Croat in the
second set and rocketed away to his upset victory in an authoritative manner.
Brands reached 65 per cent precision while delivering his first serve but clinched 36 out of 42 points on it to take the better of his superior-ranked opponent. He had six break opportunities in the match but only two conversions
in the second set proved sufficient for the German to conclude the contest in his favour. On the other hand, the eighth seed Croatian utterly failed to register a single break point in the entire matchup, squandering away three priceless opportunities to finish
on the losing side in the end.
The match took off with both players going for an aggressive approach right away. A gruelling opening set was witnessed and none of the competitors was able to break his opponent’s serve. The scores were deadlocked at 6-6 and a
tie-breaker round came into play. Dodig collapsed in the decider and could merely win four points to let his opponent away with a 7-6(4) win in the opener.
Brands took hold of the second set early and a cracking serve break, followed by a successive hold, took him to a 3-0 lead. Another decisive break point conversion from the German in the eighth game wound up the contest in his
favour at 6-2.
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