Matteo Viola stuns Andreas Haider-Maurer in the quarter-finals – Trnava Challenger 2012 CH
Rated at number 155 in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Matteo Viola successful made his way to the quarter-finals of the Arimex Challenger 2012, Slovakia. He collected his straight
sets 6-4, 6-2 shocking victory against the higher ranked Austrian professional, Andreas Haider-Maurer in a total of one hour and 16 minutes on Friday.
The eighth seeded Italian displayed his excellent run of form since the start of the opener and drew the first blood to get into the driving seat. He broke Maurer’s serve and confidently walked forward to capture
all the games without any resistance. The right-hander Austrian challenger seemed helpless initially but as the game kicked forward, he progressively picked speed to surpass his rival. This aroused an alarming situation for Viola, who nudged forward and concluded
the set with a 6-4 win.
The 25-year-old Austrian professional manifested 62 percent initial serve accuracy, converting 14 of 16 first and four of 10 second serve points. He could not even capitalize even a single break point but Viola
snatched away the only one offered to him. The Italian professional had a similar initial serve precision of 69 percent, with 14 of 18 first and six of eight second delivery points.
Haider-Maurer majorly lagged behind as he only managed to secure an average initial serve of 53 percent and double faulted three times. Further, he won eight of 17 first and six of 15 second delivery points.
His rival on the contrary had 79 percent initial serve accuracy, with 12 of 19 first and three of five second serve points. From six serve breaks presented to him, he pocketed away three and the Austrian attained only one of three.
The fourth seed, Haider-Maurer, commenced the next set with a sloppy start, as he was unable to retain his first serve. The Italian right-hander took maximum advantage of the situation and clinched the first
three games, attaining a 3-love lead. The Austrian professional swiftly stimulated and even broke Viola’s serve in the fifth game but it was a little too late. The Italian contender wrapped up the set with his 6-2 win.
For the next match the second seeded, Viola will contest against Adrian Ungur.
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