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9/21/09 6:42 PM | Ricky Dimon
Marcel Granollers needs three sets to dispatch Petru-Alexandru Luncanu in the Bucharest first round on Monday afternoon. Peter Luczak also advances.
Marcel Granollers d. Petru-Alexandru Luncanu 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-1
Granollers reached the second round of the BCR Open Romania on Monday, but he did it with unexpected difficulty. The Spaniard needed three sets over two hours and 10 minutes to get past Luncanu, a Romanian wild card ranked 328th in the world. This was the first career ATP-level match for the 20-year-old Luncanu. Granollers, meanwhile, registers at No. 79 in the world, but he retired two games into a second-round U.S. Open match against Robin Soderling due to a back injury.
Granollers made it through this one, but not without a struggle. After taking the first set 6-2, he was pushed to a tiebreaker in the second (each player broke once during the set). Luncanu took it seven points to three to force a third set, but his opponent woke up under pressure and took care of business the rest of the way. Granollers saved all three of the break points he faced in the final set and used two breaks of his own en route to victory. Next up for the winner is either Potito Starace or No. 5 seed Albert Montanes.
Peter Luczak d. Karol Beck 7-5, 7-6(6)
Beck headed into Romania having won just one clay-court ATP-level match in his entire career (Hamburg 2003 over Wayne Arthurs). Although the 27-year-old Slovak came close against Luczak on Monday, he is still left with only that single victory on clay. Beck fell to Luczak in two hours and 27 minutes and is now 1-15 lifetime on the slow stuff; he has won a mere five sets and lost 34 in those 16 matches.
The only difference in set one was that Luczak saved both of the break points he faced while converting his second break opportunity late in the opening frame of play. Neither player did a good job of handling his service games in the second set, as both competitors struggled to win points in which they missed their first serves. Two breaks each led to a tiebreaker, where Luczak's confidence at the clutch moments again became a factor. The 70th-ranked Australian, who won a clay-court Challenger event last month and also qualified for the main draw of the U.S. Open, finished it off eight points to six. Luczak will face either wild card Andrei Pavel or No. 8 seed Pablo Cuevas in round two.
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