Miomir Kecmanović demonstrated that he’s in good shape in the first round match against Richard Gasquet, and proved that he is as fit as ever today, when he defeated John Millman who eliminated Grand Slam winner Dominic Thiem from the tournament just a day earlier. In the first match of the third day of the Serbia Open tournament, the second best ranked Serbian tennis player defeated the Australian player 6:4, 7:6 (5).
It took Miomir Kecmanović two hours and 14 minutes to find his way into the quarterfinal round. Despite a slight delay in the order of play caused by rain, the Serbian tennis player had phenomenal support of Belgrade audience on Centre Court.
“This match with Millman was not an easy match. I was struggling during the entire match. I could not interrupt his game. He kept escaping. We’ve had many deuces in the second set on his serve. It’s a good thing I managed to avoid the third set. I’m looking forward to my next match and I can hardly wait to step on the court,” said Kecmanović.
His coach Nalbandian could not accompany Kecmanović at the Serbia Open but he is not alone in Belgrade.
“Johan Örtegren is here with me. He is Swedish. He used to work with Monfils and Dmitrov. We started our collaboration in Nur-Sultan last year. He and David Nalbandian work together well and I have a physical therapist and a strength and conditioning coach with me all the time. We make a good team even without David.”
Kecmanović was in control since the very start of the match, he broke Millman’s serve quite early on in the first set, and continued in the same rhythm in the second. Although Millman proved to be a tough opponent on several occasions.
“I feel great. I’m in good shape. This is the fifth consecutive quarterfinal match I’ll be playing. I’m really playing well and, luckily, I did not have to stay too long on the court against Millman. I’m ready for my next opponent, whoever he is. I’ve never had so many victories before so I
have to be pleased with myself.”
Although Kecmanović does not hide his dislike for clay courts, he talked about his “change of luck” on this surface.
“In the past year, I’ve learned to switch my style depending on the surface, whether I play on hard court or on clay. We’ve worked hard on that aspect of my game. How to move, how to play and how to build my points. Somehow it has all come together and I started playing much better on clay, although it’s still not my favorite surface,” Kecmanović added.
