by Malta’s Matija Pecotic continued precisely where he left off in Thursday’s semi-final, by beating top-seed Lucas Catarina (Monaco) in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 to secure gold in the Men’s Singles. The Monegasque appeared to be still nursing an injury that troubled him even during the semi-final. However, on the day Pecotic was as unflinching as he has been all week, letting no stoppage distract him from the task at hand.
Tight Opening Gives Way to Dominance
Home favourite, and world number 539, Matija Pecotic was made to wait by the Monegasque, who walked onto the court without much explanation. However, the Maltese representative showed no sign of bother and as the coin was flipped, it was Pecotic who opened the match on serve. The world number 449 was the first into the points as Pecotic went long. However, the Monegasque made a similar error with the backhand at the next point, to even the score. Pecotic then hunted the points delivering a smash on a weak return before racing to the net on the next point to secure the hold with a precise backhand volley.
However, Catarina showed his mettle and opened his service game with an ace and raced to a 40-0 lead. Calm as ever, Pecotic combined intelligent play with precision to earn a deuce, but the Monegasque retained the hold with a forehand winner to even the score, 1-1. Catarina earned the first break point of the match on Pecotic’s next service game, but two forehand errors handed Pecotic the hold.
Rain drizzled both in reality and metaphorically in the next game for Catarina, as he relinquished a 40-15 lead into a deuce. Pecotic forced an advantage with a forehand slice to earn a break-point, before Catarina obliged with a missed shot to yield the break. The Maltese then sustained the break with a comfortable hold to 4-1.
Monaco’s Catarina then called for a physio at the change of ends, a stance that was reminiscent of the semi-final which he won despite calling for medical treatment repeatedly in the latter stages of the match. He delivered an ace to open his service game but started wincing in pain shortly after. As he attempted to catch Pecotic out with a drop shot, the Maltese was quick off the baseline and met it with a caressed volley before landing another break with the next point to extend to 5-1. He then ramped up aggression on his serve, attacking everything that was remotely short and closed the set with an ace.
Tunnel Vision for the Title
Once again, the Monegasque walked off the court after the set with a bag of ice in hand. However, he appeared ready to go as he opened the second set with a strong hold, finishing the game with an ace. However, Pecotic returned fire and the two exchanged holds for the first four games of the set.
However, things went awry for the World number 450 in the fifth game, as at fifteen-all he misfired into the net before double-faulting to hand Pecotic a breakpoint. The crowd rallied behind Malta’s main man to convert the breakpoints and, in doing so, also seemed to have gotten under the skin of Catarina who gifted the break by losing control of the forehand. Pecotic opened his service game with a double fault, but followed it with a fearsome serve that forced Catarina to miscue his return to draw the game level. It was a tight game, but at 40-30 Pecotic drove home an ace to secure the hold and extended the lead to 4-2.
Things went from bad to worse for the Monegasque as he misfired on his next serve and then received a warning when at 0-40 chose to sit on the back of the court instead of getting on with things. As Matthew Asciak rallied his teammate from the stands, Matija Pecotic retained his composure and stuck the second break by forcing Catarina into another mistake. At this point, Pecotic just needed to control his nerves and hold serve for the title. He executed faultlessly to take the title in straight sets 6-1,6-2. The home crowd erupted as Team Malta made it two out of two gold medals on the day.
Pecotic will attempt to double his gold medals on Saturday as he teams up with Matthew Asciak in the Men’s Doubles final tomorrow, which follows the Women’s Singles final that will open the final matchday at 10 am at the Marsa Sports Club. The two will face Cypriots Kyratzis and Neos.
Photo: Deea Buzdugan
