Victor Crivoi rallies past Nicolas Devilder to enter final qualifying round – Serbia Open 2012
Qualifying seventh seed, Victor Crivoi, needed three sets to outrun the French contestant, Nicolas Devilder, at the Serbia Open 2012 on Sunday. He summed up a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory against the 32-year-old to advance into the final round of the qualifying
competition at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) clay court event taking place in Belgrade, Serbia.
The Bucharest native got the better of Devilder in one hour and 40 minutes at the SRPC Milan Gale Muskatirovic in their first outing. After bagging this match, Crivoi assertively entered the final qualifying round.
Crivoi made a drastic entry at this ATP World Tour 250 series event and suffered the first blow in the second game to go 0-2 down. However, he made a fascinating reply after that and went on a six-game killing spree, eventually pulling out the opener with
a 6-2 score line.
The frustrated French veteran on the other side rebounded in the follow-up set and earned the coveted break in the second game to leap to a 3-0 lead. He then maintained consistency in his game and availed another break chance in the last game to seal the
equaliser with a 6-2 win.
Ranked 249th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Crivoi found his early rhythm again and re-gained his early ascendancy. He broke the French’s serve in the third game and took a 3-1 lead. The Romanian then held remaining serves
and capitalised on another break chance in the seventh game to clinch he decider with a 6-2 score line.
Overall, the 29-year-old penned down a better first serve share of 68 per cent as compared to his opponent’s 59 per cent and acceptably availed 33 out of 46 points on it. He coughed more double faults but cover it up by hammering four aces.
Crivoi will next face the second seed, Antonio Veic, who trashed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Aldin Setkic in straight sets to set-up this meeting.
The Croatian challenger, Nikola Mektic, will accompany Crivoi in the final qualifying round. He registered a 3-0 retirement victory against the qualifying top seed, Rajeev Ram, in seven minutes.
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