Steven Moneke shocks Blaz Kavcic in opening round – Banja Luka ATP CH
German qualifier, Steven Moneke, stunned the top seed, Blaz Kavcic, at the Banja Luka Challenger 2012 on Tuesday. He recorded a 7-5, 3-6, 3-2 retirement victory against the defending champion to book a spot in the second round at this outdoor clay court event taking place in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The underdog showed exceptional skills to pocket the opening set. He lost the following set but was leading 3-2 in the final set when the Slovene was forced to retire from the tournament due to an injury he sustained during the match.
The 26-year-old thundered into the Bosnian clay courts. He drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. He swiped his remaining serves until he lost his track in the 10th game and levelled the scores at 5-5. However, Moneke stayed focused and broke the Slovene’s serve again, eventually sealing the opener by winning seven games to five. The German amazingly brushed off four out of five breakpoints he faced and cashed in both break opportunities to inch towards the glory.
Kavcic showed his true colours in proceeding set. He got the coveted break in the second game and took a 2-0 lead. After exchanging three serve breaks, the Slovene plucked his serve once again and clinched the equaliser with a 6-3 score line. He dusted away three out of six breakpoints he came across and converted four out of six break chances to his advantage.
Ranked 405th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Moneke found his rhythm again in the final set. He broke Kavcic’s opening serve to jump to a 2-0 lead. Apart from losing his edge in the very next game, the German held his serve once more to take a 3-2 lead.
However, the Slovene failed to continue the match, awarding Moneke a spot in the round of 16.
Up next for Moneke is Croatia’s Franco Skugor who dumped the Serbian wild card entrant, Marko Djokovic, in straight sets to set up this match. The Croat lost his serve five times but capitalised on seven out of 23 break chances to register a 7-6(4), 6-2 success.
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