2011 French Open: Mikhail Youzhny outclasses Mikhail Kukushkin in to clear the second round
World number 13, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, continued his brilliant from at Roland Garros, as he beat the 62nd ranked Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the second round clash on Wednesday in Paris, France. The Russian
had little difficulty in disposing of Kukushkin in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, taking just two hours and forty five minutes of play to make it to the third round of the Grand Slam tournament.
The in-form Youzhny was anticipated as the favourite for winning the contest against the bleak Kazakh opponent and he lived to the expectations very well. The Russian faced no real challenge in the opening set of the match but
Kukushkin posed some serious resistance in the next one to give some tough time to Youzhny. The 12th seed remained focused in the game and wound up straight sets victory in the third set, ending Kukushkin’s voyage at the French Open.
Youzhny delivered just 59 per cent of his first serve on target but reeled off 45 out of 55 points on it to take the competitive advantage in the game. His error count was slightly higher than the Kazakh competitor but he compensated
for it by winning sufficient points in the game to come out as the winner. The Russian spilled out 38 unforced errors, including three doubles faults, whereas Kukushkin conceded 34 errors, still ending on the losing side.
The unseeded Kazakh had seven opportunities in the contest to break the opponent’s serve but he cashed in just one, while suffering four break points from Youzhny. Kukushkin’s weak baseline defence was breached plenty of times
by the aggressive Russian, who cracked 44 winners in the game, in reply to Kukushkin’s 34.
Youzhny bagged the first set at 6-3 in the opening 39 minutes, clinching 15 of 17 first serve points and one serve break. The next set ignited with an exchange of break points from both competitors, followed by a routine game to
keep the score board ticking on event terms. The Russian finally stung another crucial serve break to seal the second set 7-5 and then carried on his momentum to conclude victory in the third.
Youzhny will square off against Albert Montanes of Spain in the third round of the French Open. The Spaniard took down his fellow compatriot, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the opening round 6-7(5)m 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to meet the Russian
in the third round clash.
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