Michael Berrer outsmarts Alexander Peya in the opening round of the Serbia Open
93rd ranked German, Michael Berrer had to toil long and hard to overcome the Austrian qualifier, Alexander Peya in the first round encounter of the Serbia Open at Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday afternoon. The 30-year-old
German wrapped up victory at 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and twenty six minutes to enter into the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
Being played at the Tennis Center Novak complex, the contest provided great entertainment to the local fans present at Belgrade. Peya was the first one to have his impact over the contest with his explosive start, winning the opening
set with ease to get one up in the contest. The German bounced back right in the game in the second set and then went on to bag the third one as well to finish the contest in style.
Berrer had a sloppy start to the competition and took time to get his eye in the game. He collected up pace in the later parts of the contest and recovered from the opening set slump with great mastery. Berrer crafted 15 break
chances in the game but converted merely five of them en route to victory, while his opponent cashed in three of his 10 break opportunities.
Peya took off the opener in an aggressive manner and struck a serve break in the third game to get into an early lead. Four double faults were recorded on his part in the first set but the Austrian kept clinching points on regular
occasions to consolidate his lead in the contest. A second break point proved decisive for Peya, who raced to 6-4 to bag draw first blood.
Although Peya served with 93 per cent precision, he failed to register any break point in the second set. The German regrouped by then and launched a series of attacking manoeuvres on his opponent, breaking his serve twice and
reeling off 55 per cent of the total points in the set. Berrer draw the contest to level terms by clinching the second set at 6-3.
The Austrian hung in the final set for quite some time and belted a serve break to release some pressure off him. His efforts were wiped away when Berrer stung his second break point of the set to wrap up victory at 6-4 and move
into the second round of the Serbia Open. Up next for Berrer is the fourth seeded Spaniard, Albert Montanes, who received a bye to the second round of the tournament.
Tags: