Matt Donald will be wondering how he lost the first set of his second round singles match against doubles partner Liam Gavrielides in Monastir, having saved a set point in the twelfth game before having four of his own in the tie-break. There would be no doubt about the second set, though, as the German raced away to a straight sets victory.
They exchanged service breaks to start the match before Donald broke again in the marathon fourth game. He converted his sixth break point, after the seventh deuce, with Gavrielides having had three game points. The lead didn’t last, as Gavrielides then won the next four games, but Donald held his serve to end that run before breaking his opponent’s serve again to level the scores. Donald had two game points when he served again, but couldn’t convert either, and that left Gavrielides serving for the set. He saved two break points before an ace gave him a set point, but Donald saved that before winning the two points he needed to send them to a tie-break.
A double fault from Gavrielides gave Donald a second mini-break and a 5-1 lead as they changed ends for the first time. Donald won his first serve to give himself four set points, but Gavrielides, in a terrific comeback, won the next six points to claim the set after an hour and 32 minutes. That momentum carried through to the second set where, after Donald broke him to love at the start, he won the next six games to record a comprehensive victory. Donald did have two game points in the second game, and two break points in the last, but the final score was 7-6 (6), 6-1. The match took two hours and eight minutes.