Viktor Troicki loses to Marcel Granollers; crashes out of the Serbia Open
World number 16, Viktor Troicki of Serbia suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Marcel Granollers of Spain in the second round of the Serbia Open at Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday afternoon. The 52nd ranked Spanish
competitor took one hour and thirty nine minutes to settle the final score at 6-2, 6-3, dispensing the second seeded Serb from the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
Troicki failed to come up to the expectations of his home crowd at the Tennis Center Novak complex and gave an easy pass to Granollers in to the quarter-finals of the event. The unseeded Spaniard finally avenged his defeat, which
he suffered from Troicki at the same venue two years ago in the round of 16. Granollers kept the games short and professional, availing most of his opportunities to remain on top of his opponent. He wrapped up the opener quickly and carried on his winning
momentum in the next set to dispose off the second seed from the competition in straight sets.
Spanish domination was witnessed throughout the contest, with the second seeded Serb putting up a dreadful performance with the racquet. Granollers constructed 13 break chances in the contest and successfully converted eight out
of them en route to victory. Troicki clinched just five of the total 17 games being played in the matchup and it included four break points as well. The Serb tried to break the shackles at times in the contest, coming up with assertive serve breaks and forceful
winners but he couldn’t withstand the furry of his opponent and finally surrendered in the second set.
Granollers took complete benefit of the sloppy footwork of his opponent and crafted plenty of points with his incredibly accurate drop shots, which Troicki failed to anticipate. The Serb broke once in the opening set but dropped
his serve three times to remain at a disadvantage. The Spaniard faced no real difficulty in cruising through the first set and finished it at 6-2 to lead 1-0 in the game.
His winning flow continued in the next set as well but his opponent posed some serious resistance early in the second set. Troicki threw everything he had at his opponent and struck three serve breaks. The belligerent Spaniard
stung five break points to leave the second seeded Serb answerless at 6-3 and advance to the quarter-final stage of the Serbia Open. He will be taking on Filippo Volandri of Italy in the next round at Belgrade and has also qualified for the semi-finals in
the doubles category.
Tags: