Lukas Rosol fights past Antonio Veic into the quarter-finals – Bet-at-home Cup 2012
World number 97, Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic, advanced to the last-eight stage of a tour level event for the second time in this season by defeating Croatia’s 137th ranked player, Antonio Veic, in three sets 6-3, 5-7,
6-3 in the second round of the Bet-at-home Cup in Kitzbuhel on Wednesday.
It took Rosol one hour and 49 minutes to undo his Croatian opponent in a tough match.
Rosol made a perfect start, nailing breaks in the second and fourth game and racing to a 4-0 lead. Veic pulled one back in the fifth and held his subsequent serve to reduce the deficit to 2-4. However, the Croatian could not strike
again till the end, losing it 3-6.
The Czech player’s serve statistics went up and down during the set, as he committed three double faults and put in just 31 percent of the first deliveries. Though, his conversion rate was superb, capturing seven of the eight first
and 11 of the 18 second serve points. Rosol made the real difference with his aggressive second returns, as he pocketed five of the seven points on them in the opener.
In the second set, Rosol and Veic won their serve in the opening three games to take the score to 2-1 in the latter’s favour. The Croatian struck in the fourth to move ahead 3-1 but he could not sustain his lead for long, losing
the following two games to draw level at 3-3. The subsequent five went with serves to take the score to 6-5 in Veic’s favour. At that moment, Rosol failed in holding his serve and went down 5-7.
Just like the opener, Veic did not hit any ace and committed three double faults. The 24-year-old’s first serve percentage was also same at 67 but he improved his conversion rate this time, winning 19 of the 26 points. The Zagreb,
Croatia resident was unable to put away the only break threat he came across but utilised two of the five opportunities he created in the second set.
The decider saw a steady start from both players, as there was no break of serve in the first six games, levelling the proceedings at 3-3. Rosol picked up momentum at the right time, striking twice later on to close it 6-3.
The Czech contestant will play the winner of the second round match between Philipp Kohlschreiber and Attila Balazs in the quarter-finals.
Some of the matches scheduled on Wednesday were postponed due to bad weather.
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