08.06.2018 14:34:51 | Today’s programme on the Centre Court was opened by the first of the singles semi-final matches. Jürgen Melzer of Austria faced Jaume Munar of Spain who had previously defeated Pavlásek. The Austrian started much better. He broke the Spaniard’s serve and was leading 5:1. It seemed that it would be an easy job under the Austrian flag. However, Munar then rose and reduced the opponent’s lead to 4:5. Meltzer converted his serve and won the first set 6:4.
In the second set, the Spaniard continued to show his good performance from the second half of the first set and won it 6:3. In the final set, he broke the Austrian’s serve right at the beginning and took the lead to 2:0. He broke it again was leading 3:0 and then 5:1. The Spaniard was more tenacious and more accurate from the base line. He was showed more courage and played decisive drop shots. The best ATP ranking of Munar’s career has been No. 155 which he achieved a week before the commencement of MONETA Czech Open.
Jaume Munar showed a great performance. He managed to rise up after three lost serves at the beginning of the first set. What did he say in reference to the course of the match? “I don’t think that the most important moment of the match was at 1:5 in the first set. I did a great job when I reduced the opponent’s lead to 4:6, but most importantly, it got more time for me to improve. Therefore, my performance in the second set was much better.” What did he say about his opponent? “It’s difficult for me to play lefties because their forehand goes to my backhand which is not my best shot. I struggled with my backhand especially at the end of the second set, but then I improved it and it really worked well in the final set.”
Did Jaume Munar expect he would advance to the final? “I’ve already played two ATP Challenger finals. However, my biggest ambition when I came here was to play well and improve from match to match. It’s been a fantastic week for me so far and we’ll see whether I can win on Saturday.” He will either meet Djere or Garcia-Lopez in the final. What does he expect from the match? “It’s definitely gonna be a tough match for both of them today. Of course, the longer the match takes, the better for me. No matter whether it is Laslo or Guillermo, the final match will definitely be very tough. Now, I just need to take some rest and concentrate for tomorrow.”
