Nicolas Mahut outplays Dominic Thiem in the opening qualifier – BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2013
French veteran, Nicolas Mahut, displayed his vintage class to overpower the Austrian underdog, Dominic Thiem, in the opening qualifying battle of BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Saturday. The 31-year-old French took merely 66 minutes
to wrap up the contest in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, moving into the second round qualifiers of the ATP World Tour 205-level tournament.
It was the first encounter between these two players on the professional Tour and Mahut took no time in getting under the skin of the Austrian. He dominated every segment of the game and didn’t allow the 19-year-old rival to get
the upper hand in the match. The Frenchman displayed his typical aggression and cruised through the games to seal a convincing victory in style.
Mahut was off to a flying start in the opening set of the match, breaking Thiem in his very first serve game. A successful hold of serve in the following game gave the French 3-0 commanding lead at the early stages of the match.
The Austrian teenager held his next two serves before he created an opportunity in the seventh game. He broke the French serve to reduce the deficit to 3-4, only to be broken in the very next game by a cracking forehand return from Mahut. The Frenchman was
serving for the set at 5-3 and he had no trouble in concluding the first set at 6-3, getting one up in the contest.
Mahut carried on with his winning impetus in the following set and broke Thiem once again in the opening serve game to gain a 2-0 advantage. He gave absolutely no chance to the teenager to recover from the early damage and held
all his remaining serves comprehensively. Thiem had some close break chances in the sixth and eighth games but couldn’t take down the belligerence of Mahut. The 31-year-old Frenchman eventually finished off the contest at 6-4.
Mahut will have to face the fourth seeded Belgian, Steve Darcis, in the second round qualifiers of BRD NAstase Tiriac Trophy. Darcis was successful against the Romanian wildcard entrant, Dragos Dima, in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3,
to meet Mahut in the next round.
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