04.06.2015 15:19:46 | Jiří Veselý advanced to the semi-finals after the first quarter-final match in which he beat Filip Krajinovic of Serbia easily in two sets. He had a positive balance in head-to-head matches with the Serbian 3:1. They played all their matches in 2013 and Veselý lost only once at the Samarkand Challenger. In their fifth mutual match Veselý did not lose his serve for the first time in the tournament. “My performance in the tournament keeps improving which I proved in the quarter-finals. It wasn’t ideal yet but I felt much better. I served well in the critical moments which made me feel good,” said Veselý, the second seeded player of the UniCredit Czech Open in Prostějov.
He broke his opponent’s serve in the third game of the first set and managed to hold the lead in spite of some troubles during his serve. He took the deserved lead in less than forty minutes. “I wanted to break Krajinovic’s serve and put the him under pressure as soon as possible. And I did. He dropped a little and I became more relaxed,“ said Veselý.
In the second set, it took him some time to level up with the Serbian who was serving very well. Veselý stormed ahead and his patient game won him a break which decided the entire match. “My performance in the previous matches wasn’t ideal and it ruined my self-confidence. In such situations you have to play patiently. And it paid off,“ said the player from Prostějov. “You could tell from my today’s performance that I was more self-confident. I will really need it at the end of the tournament.“
