Nikola Ciric flabbergasts Diego Junqueira in the first round
– Sao Leopoldo Challenger 2011
Serbian, Nikola Ciric, squared-off against the second seed Diego Junqueira of Argentina in the first round of the Sao Leopoldo Challenger tournament, contested in Brazil, on Monday October 31st. It was a straight set win the for
Serbian; he pulled up a major upset defeating the Argentine in just over an hour and thirty-eight minutes with a score of 6-2, 7-6(2).
It was the second match between the two and a perfect opportunity for the Serbian to take his revenge of last match. Second seeded Argentine had a lot of factors running in favour of him including superior ranking and head-to-head
lead.
Overall psychological pressure on the Serbian player was immense but he managed to start the proceedings with a clear mind and took revenge of his earlier loss against the second seed Argentine.
Both players had just won three games in their last nine encounters and were going through dismal run of form. It was the matter of extracting best of forms at the court and making sure the basics are done perfectly.
Ciric started the proceedings with an ace and both players met blow to blow till the fifth game of the set and pushed the score to 3-2. Argentine had a slight lapse of concentration and lost a simple point by netting the volley
and giving advantage to his opponent on his serve who capitalized on that to break his serve and take lead of two games.
28-year-old, Serbian held his serve to push the score to 5-2 and then broke again to finish it off and seal the first set win in a comprehensive manner. 30-year-old, Argentine couldn’t hold on to his serves and neither could break
to extend the set and was left trailing.
Second seeded Argentine required a majestic comeback to brighten his chances for qualifying for the next round. He tried his best but couldn’t give his performance a finishing touch to extend the match into the third set.
First two games of the second set went to Serbian who broke in the second game to take 2-0 lead. He continued his domination and took 3-0 lead by holding in to his serve in the next game. Conditions were becoming increasingly difficult
for the second seed to prove his worth and make a comeback.
Finally the Argentine veteran held his serve and won the first game of the second set. He broke his opponent’s serve in the seventh game and then pushed the score line to 4-4 at the end of the eighth game.
There were no more breaks for either player. Although, Argentine did won few opportunities to break but couldn’t capitalized on any of them which led to his downfall at the end. Tie-breaker was enforced to decide the set between
the two players.
Serbian held his nerve and came on top to clinch the second set. He now faces another Argentine, Martin Alund, in the next round match.
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