Viktor Troicki, the 22 seed in Paris, played his second round match of the tournament today afternoon on Court 16. His opponent was his younger compatriot Dusan Lajovic. The younger Serbian started the match better and clinched the first set in a tiebreaker. However, in the next two sets, the 30-year-old, Troicki, was the one in-charge and he won them comfortably 6-3 and 6-0. The 25-year-old Serbian, who got leg massages during the third changeover of the set and at the end of it, couldn't go on for much longer after that and retired at deuce in the first game of the fourth set. Troicki wins it (4)6-7, 6-3, 6-0 (Ret.). In the third round, he will face the home-crowd favorite, Gilles Simon, who came back from 0-2 down in sets to beat the Argentinean Guido Pella 4-6, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-4.
Lajovic Clinches the First Set in a Tiebreaker
In the first three games of the first, both players held their service games and in the fourth game of the set, the younger Serbian, Lajovic, was the first to break and he also consolidated his break and thus went up 4-1 on the scoreboard. The 22nd seed came back strongly in the next four games and reversed the score to 5-4. At that point, Troicki was serving for the set and he actually had a break-point, but he missed it and Lajovic broke to level it to 5-5. Both players won their next service game and the set went into a tiebreak, which the world number 81 won.
Troicki Comes Back Strongly in the Next Two Sets
The first five games were a mirror image of the first five in the first set; only in this set, the one to win four of the five, was the 30-year-old Serb and he had the 4-1 lead. From that point, we saw the next four games going with serve and Troicki took the set 6-3.
In the third set, the 25-year-old Serb looked out of sorts and highly tired as he kept missing his forehands and one-handed backhands. He lost five games on the bounce and called for the trainer at the changeover, to get messages for both his legs. It seems he was cramping. After Troicki served out the set to love, Lajovic got further treatment, but he just couldn't go on for much longer and he retired at deuce in the first game of the fourth set.
A Look at the Final Match Statistics
Despite the last two decisive sets, the statistic shows it was a closer match than the score may suggest and both players had similar amounts of winners and unforced errors (28 winners to 29 unforced errors for Troicki versus 31 winners to 33 unforced errors). On serve, though, the 22nd seed was superior, winning 71 percent of his first-serve points and 57 percent of his second-serve points against only 57 percent and 50 percent for Lajovic, respectively. He also won more points on his opponent's serve (45 percent versus 34 percent for Lajovic). Finally, he won 102 points from the 182 contested in the match that lasted two hours and seven minutes.