This was undoubtedly a match that an "in-form" Alex would have expected to win. His performance, however, was typical of a player coming back after a long lay-off and lacking in match practice. At times, his quality was too much for Estruch to handle, but all too often - and at key points - his game let him down and by the end, the body language had "frustration" written all over it.

Estruch is small in stature and has a game based on a solid defence and the elimination of errors. His first serve focused mostly on placement rather than power and his second serve was often short and inviting - a invitation that Alex took on several occasions. For much of the time, Estruch defended from well behind the baseline with a heavy backhand slice, forcing Alex to generate his own power, which he did mostly on the forehand side. So in many ways, this was a chess match and the defining question was - "could the Slabinsky forehand, breakdown the Estruch backhand defense".

Alex hit a lot of forehand winners in this battle, and at times was very effective in using his experience and court craft to move Estruch around the court in order to create openings. But all too often, having worked hard to create the opportunity, the forehand would let him down and the key moment. It was a classic case of the body not being able to execute what the brain was telling it to do.

Having gone 4-2 up in the first set, Alex let it slip away conceding the first break with a DF on breakpoint and then really letting his frustration get the better of him. The second set was very similar in many ways, but this time Alex managed to hang on to the early break. He had opportunities for a second break which went begging, but his serve held up really well in this phase of the game and he was able to serve out the set quite comfortably.

Serving at 0-1 and 15-30 in the final set, there were two disputed calls in the same rally, both of which went against Alex. Estruch hit a forehand that appeared to just miss the baseline but wasn't called. Alex continued and eventually had a forehand of his own called out - a decision he clearly did not agree with. It got to him and what followed was in all honesty, a fairly "wild" double fault to give up the break. He managed to create a couple of break points late on in the set but each time, he was unable to convert and another double fault in the final game helped Estruch to run out a 6-2 final set winner.