05.06.2015 14:53:53 | Few expected that the semi-finals would feature the defending champion Veselý vs. Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus (253rd ATP) who advanced to the main event of the Prostejov Challenger from the qualification. Veselý won in three sets and will play the finals for the third time! The tight and tenacious battle in the first set was decided in the tie-break. Ignatik surprisingly won after taking an early lead to 4:1 and the Czech player was able to win only one point in the tie-break. “The first set was very even. Ingatik had a big serve, made almost no mistakes, and finally won the tie-break. I knew my chance would come and I was ready to convert it,” said Veselý.
He proved his words right at the beginning of the second set when he started to play faster and more aggressively. He won four games in a row and made his opponent make a number of unforced errors. Thanks to greater diversity of shots he held his lead and brought the match to the third set. “The early break helped me a lot. Since then I controlled the match. It helped that I knew the opponent very well and could anticipate the shot placement which was a great advantage,“ said Veselý.
He has played Ignatik twice before today’s match: he defeated him at the Rome Challenger in 2013 and in Mons a year later. At 1:1, there was no doubt who was going to win. Veselý showed his best performance at the tournament so far and made it through to the finals after less than two hours. “It’s been my best performance at the tournament. I shook off the nervousness after I advanced to the semi-finals. It’s not easy to be the favourite for each match, but I managed to cope with it,“ said the Czech player with relief. He needs to win one more time to defend the title. “I’ll be ready. It’s not about the opponent. I should rather concentrate on my performance. If it works, I’ll have a good chance,“ said the 41st player in ATP rankings.
