Dusan Lajovic struggles past Viktor Galovic to reach final round qualies – Croatia Open Umag 2012
Second seeded Serbian, Dusan Lajovic, had to dig deep before dumping the crafty Italian opponent, Viktor Galovic, in the second round qualifiers of the ATP VEGETA Croatia Open Umag on Sunday. The 22-year-old battled extremely hard
for a fraction over two hours to settle the clash in straight sets, 7-6(3), 7-6(5), reaching the qualifying competition of the clay court event in Umag, Croatia.
It was a stiff battle for the second seeded Serb, who had to drag both sets into tie-breaker rounds before settling them. Galovic posed some serious resistance to his opponent but tended to chock in the pressure situations of the
match, collapsing in both tie-breaks in a dismal manner. He closely followed the second seeded rival in most segments of the game but couldn’t deliver the decisive blow on both occasions, finishing on the losing side in the end.
Lajovic banged in 70 per cent of his serve on target, firing five aces and winning 44 out of 62 first serve points en route to victory. His opponent came up with 10 thudding aces in the matchup but coughed four double faults as
well. Both players registered two break points in the contest and had to go through tie-breaker round each time to settle the dispute.
A conventional start to the contest witnessed both contenders holding serve in the opening four games of the match. Galovic delivered the first blow of the day breaking his opponent in the fifth game, only to be broken in the very
next game to fall back on even terms. A regular game followed, taking the opener into a decisive tie-breaker round. The Italian could grasp three points in the decider and Lajovic took the first set at 7-6(3).
The Serbian carried on with his winning momentum in the following set and broke his opponent in the very first game to lead 2-0. Galovic finally hit back at the second seeded contender in the 10th game of the set and
imposed another tie-break into play. He played pretty well in the decider but crucial mini-break outnumbered him in the end and Lajovic came out as the deserving winner.
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