Martin Klizan dispenses out Antonio Veic in the final round qualifiers of the Serbia Open
Fifth seed Martin Klizan of Slovakia overcame Croatian, Antonio Veic in the final round of qualies of the Serbia Open, being played at the Tennis Center Novak complex in Belgrade, Serbia on Monday. He beat Veic in straight sets,
7-5, 6-2, in one hour and forty three minutes to enter the main draws of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 clay-court tournament.
It was the first ever encounter for Klizan against the 23-year-old Croat and he took him down with ease. The Slovak has not dropped a set in the qualifying rounds and kept demonstrating his expertise on the clay surface get access
to the main draws at Belgrade. He stumbled a bit in the opening set of the contest but held his nerve very well to recover and conclude a straight sets victory at the end.
Veic hung in the opener for quite some time with his conservative tennis play. His first serve precision was 72 per cent in the match, better than the Slovak’s 68 per cent. The Croat had his chances in the game but failed to avail
them in time. Veic crafted five opportunities to break the opponent’s serve but converted merely two of them.
The aggressive Slovak had an average serve precision in the first set but kept clinching points on regularity to remain on top of the game. A stiff contest was observed in the opener, with a series of serve breaks from the two
contestants. Veic and Klizan struck two break points each before the scores reach 5-5, with the Slovak leading. It was anticipated that the set is well on way to a tie breaker but a crucial serve break from Klizan turned the course of the game, giving him
6-5 lead serving for the set. The fifth seed served out of the first set with ease at 7-5 and got one up in the competition.
Klizan had few problems to overtake the Croatian opponent in the next set and used his mighty serve and powerful ground strokes to edge Veic. The Slovak cashed in two out of two break opportunities in to race away to 6-2 in the
second set and marked an end to Veic’s voyage at Belgrade.
The Slovak will now be competing in the main draw matches of the Serbia Open and his first round opponent will be the wildcard entrant Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
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