The upsets continue for Matt Donald, taking out second seed Vlad Andrei Dancu in the first round of singles at the ITF tournament in Monastir tonight. He won in straight sets after saving three set points on his own serve in the first set. Dancu held comfortably to start the match before having break points after four deuces in a row in the second game. Donald had been up 40-0, but hit consecutive double faults to drop back to deuce, and another to lose the advantage after that. The game lasted 13 or 14 minutes as they worked their way through seven deuces, Donald having that many game points before he finally held serve.
He celebrated by winning the next game as well, with Dancu not breaking back until the eighth game. He then held serve before taking Donald to 0-40, and facing those three set points, but Donald then won five in a row to hold serve. He broke Dancu’s serve in the next game to then be serving for the set, but his second double fault in the game gave the break straight back. Donald lost both his first two points in the tie-break, getting one mini-break back before they changed ends, but he went on a tear after Dancu won the next point, winning six in a row to end the set after an hour and six minutes.
Dancu broke easily to start the second set, and held after two deuces to consolidate the lead, with Donald not breaking back until the sixth game. He continued that run until he had taken five games in a row, and that was enough to give him the win. He had had to save two break points in the last game, eventually converting his second match point after three deuces. The final score was 7-6 (4), 6-3, and the match took an hour and 50 minutes.