Victor Hanescu overpowers Michael Berrer in final qualifier – Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
German veteran, Michael Berrer, cleared the opening round qualifier on Sunday but couldn’t replicate the similar result in his second matchup of the day against the 13th seed Romanian, Victor Hanescu. The unseeded German
lost in straight sets, 1-6, 4-6, to let Hanescu through to the main draw of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters.
It was the third time these two went one-on-one against each other, with Hanescu winning the prior two battles over the German. The 13th seed took merely 70 minutes of play to wrap up victory in an assertive fashion.
He faced no real difficulty in taking down Berrer in the opening set, getting into one-set lead in no time. The German posed some late resistance in the second set but it wasn’t enough to halt the winning impetus of the belligerent Romanian, who went on with
his all-round assault to close out the matchup in his favour.
Hanescu delivered 71 per cent of his serve on target and clinched 29 out of 39 first serve points en route to victory. He had nine break opportunities against the German but on three conversions proved sufficient for him to dispose
of Berrer from the qualifying competition. The unseeded German also had four break chances in the match but frittered away all the priceless opportunities to finish on the losing side in the end.
The contest took off in conventional manner, with both players holding their serves in the opening three games before Hanescu delivered the first blow in the fourth game, breaking the German serve and then holding his own serve
to lead 4-1 right up. Another successive break point conversion in the sixth game left the 13th seed serving for the set at 5-1. He served out of the opener comprehensively, bagging it at 6-1 to get the upper hand in the match.
The Romanian carried on with his momentum in the following set as well, breaking his opponent’s serve in the very first game to lead 1-0. A regular game was followed and Hanescu kept his lead intact to finish the matchup at 6-4,
booking a berth in the main rounds of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters.
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