Nikola Mektic defeats Lukas Lacko in the opening round – Open Castilla y Leon 2011 CH
Croatian qualifier, Nikola Mektic won his encounter against Lukas Lacko of Slovakia to clear the opening round of Open Castilla y Leon in Segovia, Spain, on Tuesday afternoon.
Mektic toiled for one hour and thirty five minutes to take down his opponent in the exciting three-setter. The Croatian settled the final scores at 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, making a place in the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis
Professionals) Challenger Tour event.
Momentum kept oscillating in the contest and both men laboured very hard to take down their opponent. Mektic drew the first blood in the matchup by bagging the opening set but let the Slovakian competitor back in the game by dropping
the following set. The Croatian qualifier then took hold of the contest in the final set and concluded victory in the most assertive manner to reach the second round of the Challenger Tour tournament.
Lacko fired eight aces in the game but coughed a number of unforced errors as well, including four double faults, to finish the matchup on the losing side. The Slovak competitor was off to a sloppy start in the opening set and
collected just nine first serve points in contrast to his opponent’s 14 out of 15 points.
Mektic got his impact upon the matchup with two consecutive serve breaks in the fifth and seventh game of the first set to race away to 6-2, getting one up in the contest. The Croat failed to sustain his winning momentum in the
next set and squandered away three break opportunities to let his opponent make a comeback in the game. Lacko registered his first break point conversion of the day to seal the second set in his name at 6-3 and tied the matchup with one set each.
The Slovak went through a terrible slump in the final set and appeared in utter confusion to lose the game. Lacko struck one serve break but had to suffer three from his opponent to surrender the game. Mektic converted three out
of four break opportunities in the third set to wrap up victory at 6-2, moving into the second round of Open Castilla y Leon.
Mektic now needs to overcome the fifth seeded Russian, Teymuraz Gabashvili, the second round to book a berth in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Gabashvili won his opening round matchup against the lucky loser from France,
Albano Olivetti, in straight sets 7-6(3), 7-6(7), to meet Mektic in the second round.
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