Alexander Kudryavtsev stuns Igor Sijsling in first round – Ortisei Challenger 2011
Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev flummoxed the Dutch Igor Sijsling in the first round of Ortisei Challenger tournament, contested in Ortisei, Italy. On Wednesday November 9th, the match was contested on carpet surface,
Bross Slide and lasted for exactly an hour. It was a straight set 7-6(4), 6-3 victory that stunned the viewers. Sixth seed got defeated in the first round by the un-seeded player.
Both contenders were facing each other for the first time. There was no major ranking difference as the Russian was ranked 152, just 15 ranks higher than his opponent. It was expected to be an enthralling battle and it turned out
to be the same except the winner was unexpected.
Form was relatively unstable for both players who had recently lost matches in succession but their enthusiasm to register a victory yesterday was treat to watch. They were extremely efficient with their footwork; especially Kudryavtsev
was reaching out for almost unplayable shots and making it look quite simple with his outstanding technique and balance.
Match started in traditional manner as both players held their serves in the first three games and pushed the score to 2-1 in winner’s favour. Russian came on top in the fourth game and flabbergasted the crowd with his outrageous
winners that helped him secure a lead of two games.
26-year-old Russian’s lead was cut short right in the next game when his rival broke his serve and levelled the score at 4-4 in no time. Viewers loved every bit of it and could predict nothing for upcoming games due to proximity
of style and technique of both players.
No breaks were witnessed afterwards but three aces apiece were the highlights from the next four games as the score moved to 6-6. Tie-breaker was enforced but there was some concern about Dutch’s energy levels at the sidelines
when he was being stretched by his physio.
Experienced players double-faulted after a decent start to the tie-breaker and provided classic opportunity to his rival that capitalized on it successfully to clinch the first set.
Second set was pretty straight forward as no dramas took place till the fifth game when Russian broke his rival’s serve to take the two game lead and pushed the score to 4-2 in his favour. Everyone was convinced about the upset
at that stage because Dutch couldn’t win single opportunity to break and indicated a comeback.
Alexander Kudryavtsev easily won the second set and placed the berth in the second round match against an American Rajeev Ram.
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