After two exciting weeks of great tennis from Melbourne, the attention of fans turns to European indoor tennis at the ATP 250 in Sofia, one of the three tournaments scheduled in the first week of February. The other tournaments are Quito and Montpellier.
Three matches were played on Monday at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open. In the most interesting match of the day Lukas Rosol came back from a set down to edge Robin Haase 3-6 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes. Haase, who was beaten by Bosnian Mirza Basic at the Australian Open, saved three break points in the fifth game of the first set breaking serve to win the first set 6-3. The Dutch player went up a set and a break in the second set but Rosol broke straight back. Rosol got another break to draw level on sets forcing the match to the decider. Rosol broke serve in the ninth game of the third set to take a 5-4 lead before serving out for the match in the next game.
“It’s always a battle. I got lucky at the end, as Rosol is playing good tennis. It’s always about one or two points. After the Australian Open, which is outdoors, to then move indoors is tricky. It’s a different game and I am happy with the results. The stadium and the court are nice to play on. I came here to get used to the conditions. They do a good job and make you feel comfortable”, said Rosol.
Mirza Basic, who lost to Tomas Berdych in the third round at the Australian Open, edged Yuki Bhambri 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in 1 hour and 25 minutes. Basic broke serve once to seal the first set. The second set featured six breaks of serve and came down to the tie-break where Basic prevailed 7-4.
Martin Klizan eased past Bulgarian wild-card Alexander Lazov 6-3 6-0 in just 59 minutes after dropping just two of his first two service points.
Roberto Bautista Agut is the top seed of this ATP 250 tournament which also features Viktor Troicki (winner in Sydney), Guillermo Garcia Lopez and Andreas Seppi.
