Razvan Sabau defeats Jonathan Eysseric in 2nd qualifier – BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2011
BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2011 fired up on Sunday, 18th September, at Bucharest, Romania, with its 2nd round qualifiers as the local lad, Razvan Sabau jolted Frenchman, Jonathan Eysseric after he went down
a set. Playing on classic red clay, it took the Romanian two hours and 31 minutes to bag a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Frenchman and into the final qualifier.
Aged 34, Sabau stepped up to conquer the red clay at the Romanian Capital beating the Frenchman with a surprising comeback. Formerly ranked world No.74, the Romanian had been satisfactory in his play lately winning 7 out of his
last 10 matches and all on clay. On the other hand, the Frenchman, world No.277, could not retain a great deal and eventually lost after winning the first set.
With the home crowd cheering up for their player, the Frenchman led on to start the match serving first. However, the 34-year-old got lucky early and broke Eysseric in the first game of the match. With a second game win on his
serve, the Romanian went marvellous as he broke-n-served again to lead the first set 4-0.
Seemingly, the locals thought of an early exit with a smile, however, the Frenchman did not let go. Serving out the first game win, Eysseric broke-served-broke the home player, cutting down the lead and levelled up the scores,
4-4.
The two continued to battle it out before Sabau broke the 21-year-old, however, could not retain and dropped his serve and taking the set into a tiebreak. The 21-year-old staggered the 34-year-old as he knocked out the tiebreak
winning the first set7-6(5).
Moving on with set 2, Sabau opened up fantastic. With a serve-break-serve technique, the Romanian led the game instantly, 3-0. Serving next Eysseric served out his first win for the 2nd set and broke the Romanian next.
With scores now at 3-2, the 21-year-old won game 6 on his serve to level the scores once again with a startling comeback. However, this time the 34-year-old was ready. With scores at 3-3, Sabau went on repeating the set start beating
he served-broke-served the next three games winning the set 6-3 and levelled the match scores, 1-1.
Starting off with the decider, Eysseric served first and rolled down the scorecard, 1-0. Levelling up next, the Romanian switched the serve back to the 21-year-old. The two levelled up again at 2-2 before Sabau struck, breaking
the Frenchman and taking the lead, 3-2.
Winning game 6, the Romanian pulled of a commanding 2 games lead switching the serve back to the Frenchman. Eysseric did win 2 games, however, could not break to level the scores and eventually lost the set, 6-4.
Cheering up the crowd, Sabau now leads to the final showdown of the qualifiers as he plays Florent Serra, another Frenchman, for a spot in the main draws.
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