Nielsen Beaten But Not Disgraced
Croatian Davis Cup hero Mario Ancic is through to the second round of the Heineken Open after a 6-1 6-2 win over Kiwi No1 Mark Nielsen.
Ancic, ranked 21 in the world, was one of his country's stars in their
2005 Davis Cup triumph.
In front of a big night session crowd the former Wimbledon semifinalist was in top form smashing winning shots and big serves. However Nielsen was never out of the rallies with the majority of games going to deuce.
In fact Nielsen had an opportunity to break his opponents serve in the first game of the match but two (of a total of 10) big aces put paid to that.
"You can understand why he (Ancic) was a semifinalist at Wimbledon and Davis Cup winner. The score unfortunately was not the best. It looks bad but I think a lot of people enjoyed it. I just have walk away and say I tried my best and gave it everything," said Nielsen.
Against an opponent of lesser standing Nielsen would have looked better on the scoreboard but Ancic was too sharp and could be a real threat at the Australian Open next week.
"The score looked pretty easy...it wasn't. It was very tough. We both had chances. Every game was lasting a long time," said Ancic.
Ancic will now face Scotland's Andy Murray in the second round on Wednesday.
"I watched him play. He's obviously a great talent and it's going to be a challenge and hopefully a good match again. I will have to be focussed."
