Andrey Golubev upsets Stanislas Wawrinka in opening round – Western and Southern Open 2011
Unseeded Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan rallied back from a deficit of one set to defeat sixteenth seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati
on Tuesday. The Kazakh took one hour and 44 minutes to come out victorious from a tough encounter.
Wawrinka drew the first blood, breaking the Kazakh in the fourth game and clinching his next service game to build a 4-1 lead. The Swiss capitalised on the single break of serve as he did not lose his serve throughout the set,
bagging it 6-3.
The 26-year-old served quite well as he kept his first serve percentage at 85 percent, converting a whopping nineteen of the 23 first serves into points in the first set. Wawrinka utilised one of the two break point opportunities
he created on the Kazakh’s serve and saved the one break point he faced on his own serve in the opening set.
Golubev bounced back in style as he broke the Swiss in the second game of the second set and held his next service game to race to a 3-0 lead. Wawrinka broke back in the seventh game and consolidated on it to level the score at
4-4. However, the Kazakh grabbed two successive games after that and won the set 6-4.
The Bra, Italy resident was unable to serve up to his potential as he delivered just 52 percent of the first serves and committed two double faults in the second set. However, the six feet and one inch tall succeeded in winning
both break points he received in the second set.
Golubev thrashed the Swiss in the final set as he broke him twice, clinching five games in a row to grab the set 6-1.
The Kazakh improved his serve drastically as he fired five aces and captured sixteen of the twenty points on the first serve in the third set. The right-handed won an amazing six of ten first return points in the deciding set.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Golubev said, "It was [a] good sensation. I'm happy that it happens today. I think I played [a] great match. I think it doesn't matter against who you playing [when] you're not winning
matches. So it's only depends on you -how you're preparing [for the] match. I tried to be concentrate and stay focused on every ball."
The Kazakh will play world number 29 Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic in the second round.
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