Max Botti def. Dr.Ivo 6-4,6-7(9),7-6(5)!
Crazy match, big drama...i lost so many close matches recently and a lot of them in the third set TB
He deserved to win because he was creating much more chances on my serve than i did on his, actually i didnt create one
Conditions were bad, 200 delay, lag ratio was 0 percent, but it was soooo hard to volley, i just cant believe i volleyed so well under the circumstances, but i missed so many volleys that i would normally put in with my eyes closed
I had troubles with my slice 2nd serve which i couldnt control sometimes...and my net movement...horrible because of the conditions, he was passing by me with 120,130 kmh shots and i make balls of this speed in normal conditions
I dont say that conditions werent the same for him, but he was dealing with it much easier because he plays from the baseline, he volleyed sometimes and he had troubles with it just like i did...my serve was working well, he couldnt deal with it unless he was guessing sides, which he did a lot of times and that cost me a lot of points, he was lucky at some moments and very lucky at one crucial point which i will mention later...and he aced me so many times, i couldnt return his serve!
1.set...he broke me to 30 at 2-2 with some great returns, i had 15-30 two times but he got out of it and won the set easily...
2.set...there i saved sooo many dangerous situations....at 3-3 we had one very long game in which i saved like 5,6 break points...i dont remember if i saved some more break points in the set...we got to the TB where he made a minibreak at 2-2 i think and got to 5-2 lead...i got to 5-4, he won next point and he had 2 match points...i hit back and took his serve point at 4-6 and then fired 2 aces to go up set point...then he fired 2 aces and had his third match point...i saved it again with some great serving, got to 9-8, he aced on next point, but i was very lucky to get another minibreak and i served out the set at 10-9!
3.set...he had only one break point, at 2-1, but i managed to save it and no one had a break point till the end, he had deuce at 6-5 only...and than in TB we held our serves till 5-5, mostly with some impressive serving...and than that point at 5-5, the point where he got very lucky...i served on the line, but he guessed side, got it back, i managed to play a volley, but he got to the net and lobbed me, i tried to play backhand smash and i put it just wide, it was as close as it gets...it was the first smash that i missed in the whole match, he got really lucky with it and served it out at next point!
You are great player, the match was so close, i hope to play you again, but in better conditions...GG and GL in the rest of the tournament!
