Roberto Bautista (n.28) won this Monday a tough three-set match lasting two hours and 52 minutes against the Serbian Philip Krajinovic (n.78) to overcome his first obstacle to Monte Carlo Masters 1,000first of the season on clay.
Bautista beat the Serbian by returning, para 5-7, 7-6 (10) and 6-1and met in the second round with the winner of the duel that this Tuesday opens the day between the Kazakh alexander bublik and the german Alexander Zverev.
The second match between Bautista and Krajinovic -the first was won by the Spaniard in 2013- was very close, although the Serb initially had more control, being able to break Castellón’s serve in the third game and hold his easier.
The improvement in the rest allowed Bautista to balance the contest in the eighth (4-4), but a new drop in his game made it easier for Krajinovic to make another break in the eleventh, which eventually he proved in his service to win the first set.
The second set was more even, with each player holding his serve and Roberto Bautista wasting two balls on his rival’s serve to post a favorable 5-3. The luck of the set came in the decisive thirteenth, where the Spaniard missed four set points and Krajinovic was one in the match.
In the seventh, Bautista got his first two balls in the twelfth game, the set was decided by Bautista’s side, 12-10, which allowed him to force the final third set.
The final sleeve was clearly dominated by Bautista, who in the blink of an eye was ahead 4-0 with two breaks in the first and third games. The Serb had no answer and came back to give up serve in the seventh for 6-1 that sent Bautista into the second round.
Almost at the same time, the Austrian Dominic Thiem (n.111 ATP), but with 17 ATP titles in his career, returned to regain the brilliance of his tennis to defeat the French veteran Richard Gasquet (n.42, 36 year) through 6 -1 and 6-4.
In other matches of the day, Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka (n.88, 38 years old), winner of the tournament in 2014, overcame adversity against Dutch Tallon Griekspoor (n.36, 26 years old) in through 5-7 , 6-3 and 6-4; and Italian Matteo Berrettini (n.22) did the same with relative ease against American Maxime Cressy (n.38) 6-4, 6-2.
Also, the Australian Álex de Miñaur (n.19) confirmed the predictions against the British Andy Murray (n.57, 35 years old), by 6-1 and 6-3. EFE
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Source: La Verdad
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