Javier Marti topples Petru-Alexandru Luncanu in the opening round – Brasov Challenger 2012
Fifth seed, Javier Marti of Spain, survived the bashing in the first set to overcome the challenge of local wild card entrant, Petru-Alexandru Luncanu, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Brasov Challenger in Romania on Tuesday.
Marti made a poor start, as he was unable to claim even a single point on his opening serve and failed to strike back in the following game to trail 0-2. The Spaniard failed to hold once again, when he served to stay in the set
at 3-6, losing it 3-6.
Ranked 180th in the world, Marti did not play up to his standard, as he could not hit any ace and made a couple of double faults. On the other hand, Luncanu also failed to deliver an ace but he did not commit any double
fault either. The Romanian kept his first serve percentage at 70 and captured 12 of the 16 points on them in the opener.
Luncanu and Marti won their serve in the first two games of the second set to equalise the score at 1-1. The Spaniard realised that it was the time to show his true game and he did the same, playing almost error free to win five
in a row and seal it 6-2.
The 20-year-old had a poor first serve percentage of 43 but he managed to win seven of the nine points on them. Marti did not provide any break opportunity to Luncanu and utilised two of the nine he created for himself in the second
set.
The Spanish contender kept the winning momentum on his side, nailing a break in the very first game of the decider and consolidating on it to gain a 2-0 lead. However, Luncanu also had his spirits high, hitting back immediately
to level the proceedings at 2-2. The next two games went with serve, taking the score to 3-3 but then Marti pressed the accelerator to win three in a row and triumph 6-3.
It took Marti two hours and 20 minutes to throw his rival out of the tournament.
The Spanish participant will face Boris Pashanski in the round of 16.
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