Treat Conrad Huey defeats Mohd Assri Merzuki in the first qualifier – Malaysian Open 2012
Left-hander, Treat Conrad Huey, advanced in the second round qualifier of the Malaysian Open 2012 held at the hard courts of Kuala Lumpur. The Philippines challenger defeated the local challenger, Mohd Assri
Merzuki, in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, taking nearly one hour and 56 minutes.
The 17-year-old underdog, Merzuki was unable to hold his serve in the start of the opener and Huey took hold of the opportunity, stealing the initial four games and marked his 4-love lead. The Philippines contestant
skilfully held his serve throughout the set and dominated the game, with a strong resolve to secure the ultimate victory. As the Malaysian contestant did not exhibit did not show any resistance, Huey concluded the set with a 6-2 score.
Surprisingly, the right-hander Malaysian junior reversed the winning order in the following set and broke Huey’s initial serve. He took hold of the opportunity, secured the initial three games, and stamped his
3-love lead. This surely game as the shock to the Philippines senior and he struggled to bust his opponent’s serve in the seventh game, eventually evened out the scores to 4-all in the next game. However, beyond that point, the two players continuously oscillated
the momentum amongst one another. Merzuki broke his challenger’s confidence and nudged forward to secure the last two games, concluding the set with his 7-5 lead.
Huey fired four aces onto the local competitor and had a below average first serve precision, with eight of nine points. He capitalized all the break points presented to him, instead the Malaysian could not secure
even one point. Merzuki had 48 percent first serve accuracy, snatching six of 10 points.
The Philippine senior displayed 55 percent initial serve accuracy, with 14 of 21 first and but a drastically low five of 17 second serve points. On the other hand, his junior manifested a remarkable good initial
serve accuracy of 70 percent, converting 19 of 32 first and six of 14 second serve points.
In the decider 27-year-old, Huey came back in action and dissolved the Malaysian’s initial serves, stamping a 4-love lead. He broke Merzuki’s serve twice i.e. in the first and third game respectively. He continued
in the set without facing any hindrance and eventually wrapped up his 6-2 win.
For the next match of the qualifiers, the left-hander Philippines will contest against the right-hander Korean challenger, Woong-Sun Jun.
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