2023-07-18 11:32:07
Filip Misolic won a match on Tuesday for the first time in his career outside of Austria on the ATP tour. The 21-year-old from Graz, who sensationally made it into the Kitzbühel final last year with four victories, eliminated the higher rated Serb Dusan Lajovic (ATP-61.) in Båstad following 1:55 hours 7: 6 (4), 7: 6(4). In the round of 16 he meets Slovakian Jozef Kovalik for the first time, who surprisingly defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP-7) 6:3.6:4.
Misolic had won the only encounter with Lajovic on his way to the Kitz final in a three-set fight in the quarterfinals. Now he made it 2-0 in a head-to-head with Lajovic.
After a strong fight, the Styrian had secured the first set despite being 2:4 behind. He managed the rebreak to make it 4:4 and he wasn’t bothered by a missed set point at 6:5. In the tiebreak, Misolic quickly led 4:1 and then 6:3, he then used his third chance to win the set.
The world number 139. then used the momentum and made a break right at the beginning of the second round. But Lajovic countered and immediately took the serve from the outsider from Austria to zero. It remained a period of setbacks as the first four games were all breaks, with Misolic missing a chance at 2-1 to make it 3-1.
After that, the players found their serve once more until it was 5:4, when Misolic had to fend off a set ball and equalized to 5:5. Set two also went into a tie-break. And this also went to the disadvantage of the Styrian, who found three match balls at 6:3 and used the second one.
Misolic is doing well for Kitzbühel, where last year’s finalist is in pole position for a wildcard. The Generali Open starts on July 29th.
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