As had already happened last Saturday, Thiago Monteiro had another match suspended due to rain in the qualifying for the ATP 250 in Auckland and will have to return to the court the next day to try his place in the main draw. In advantage against the local guest Ajeet Rai, Monteiro leads the score by 6/7(5), 6/3 and 5/3 after 2h39 of departure. They return to the court at 8 pm (Brasília time) this Sunday, to complete the game.
Monteiro had already gone through a similar situation in the debut of the Auckland quali. The number 1 in Brazil and 71st in the world had turned around the German Daniel Altmaier, in a match suspended the day before due to bad weather, and completed with a score of 3/6, 7/5 and 7/6 (8-6).
Rai showed a very sharp serve throughout the first set, shooting 66% and missing just three of those points, including nine aces. Still, Monteiro had a chance to break in the third game. Afterwards, Monteiro avoided three set-points in the 10th game but couldn’t resist the tiebreaker.
The difficulty in the return continued for the Brazilian in the second set. Another break-point was wasted, in the fourth game, until finally the break came and, with 5/3, Monteiro did not hesitate. In between, Rai called for medical attention twice.
A break in the first game of the third set opened the way for Monteiro, but bad weather interrupted the match after the third game, with 2/1. On the way back, the Ceará player remained firm in his service games and had chances to increase the advantage, but he did not take advantage of them. This ended up costing an even longer wait, as it rained again when he was up 5/3 and served for the game.
