Matt Donald got broken to love in the opening game of his first round singles match against Guy Den Ouden in Heraklion tonight after starting with a double fault, but did well to break back from 40-15 in the second game. Den Ouden made it three breaks in a row next up, and had another break point in the fifth game. The remaining games in the set went with serve, although Den Ouden did have to save a break point on the way to closing out the set after 50 minutes.
The second set started exactly the same way as the first, but it didn’t continue the same way, as Den Ouden eventually won the second game after four deuces, during which he hadn’t conceded a break point. He broke Donald’s serve again in the third game, and held to love to consolidate the lead. There were six deuces in the next game before Donald managed to hold serve for the first time in the set, having saved four more break points – two of which he gave away with double faults. It was Den Ouden’s turn to have to save break points in the next game, but he managed that well enough.
Donald then held to love for the only time in the match, and that left Den Ouden trying to serve out. Donald created more break points, again taking the Dutch player to 15-40, but once more he was equal to the occasion, winning the four points he needed to complete the victory after an hour and 39 minutes. The final score was 6-4, 6-2.