David Guez dumps Antonio Veic in the qualifying draw – Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2013
Seeded at number four in the qualifying draw, Antonio Veic of Croatia had a tough three-setter against the French underdog, David Guez, at Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Saturday. He laboured extremely hard for two hours and 48 minutes
before succumbing to the 221st ranked Frenchman, with the final score line settling at 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(3) against his favour.
It was a very stiff battle for both of the contenders and the momentum of the game kept shifting after every set. Initially, it was Guez who appeared in prime form and cruised through the opening set to mark his lead on the score
board. His impetus was hampered by some crafty play from the fourth seeded Croatian in the following set and the contest fell back to even terms. A nail-biting decider was played, which was stretched to the tie-breaker round and Guez came out as the deserving
winner in the end.
Both men held their opening two serves convincingly to move the scores to 2-2 before an exchange of break points was witnessed. Veic held another serve in the eighth game but gave an opportunity to his opponent in the 10th
game and Guez happily capitalized on it to seal the opener at 6-4.
The fourth seeded Croatian came back very strongly in the following set and established a 2-0 lead right away. His French opponent broke his serve in the fourth game and brought him down to even terms at 202. A trade of serve breaks
was seen from both sides in the sixth and seventh game but a crucial break point conversion from Veic in the 11th game proved decisive in the set. He clinched the second set at 7-5 after a successful serve hold.
Two more break points from each side were witnessed in the final set, dragging the match into a decisive tie-break round. Veic could secure merely three points in the decider and Guez concluded the match at 7-6(3) comprehensively.
The Frenchman will next take on the unseeded Spanish competitor, Daniel Munoz de la Nava, in the second qualifying round of the tournament. Nava was successful against the other French participant, Vincent Millot, 6-2, 6-3, in
the opening encounter of Qatar Open on Saturday.
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