Denis Istomin defeats Olivier Rochus in the first round of Open de Nice Côte d’Azur
Uzbekistan’s top player Denis Istomin, ranked 58th in the world, prevailed over world number 73 Olivier Rochus of Belgium in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(5) in the opening round of the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur at the Nice
Lawn Tennis Club in Nice on Monday. The match lasted for an hour and 39 minutes.
Istomin broke the Belgian in the third game of the first set and held his serve in the next game, taking a 3-1 lead. The 24-year-old broke again in the seventh game and succeeded in serving out the match in the next game, winning
it 6-2.
The Uzbek served quite well as he fired four aces and 73 percent of the first serves, converting 74 percent of them into points in the first set. While, Rochus failed to impress with his first serve percentage, hitting just 48
percent of the first serves and winning 60 percent of the points on them in the opening set. The Belgian clinched 26 percent of the first return points in the opening set. Istomin converted two of the four break points he received and saved both break points
on his own serve in the first set.
After losing a one-sided opening set, Rochus claimed two consecutive games at the start of the second set. Both players held their serve in the next six games, taking the score to 5-3 in Rochus’ favour. Serving for the set in the
ninth game, the Belgian could not hold his serve and lost the next game to level the score at 5-5. Rochus broke his opponent again in the 11th game but once again failed to consolidate on it, taking the set to a tie-break. Istomin grabbed a late
mini-break in the tie-break, winning it 7-5.
The Uzbek served brilliantly as he delivered six aces in the second set. Istomin hit 52 percent of the first serves, claiming 75 percent of the points on them in the second set. On the other hand, Rochus was miserable with his
serve, committing a couple of double faults and not hitting any ace. The Belgian kept his first serve percentage at 58 percent and bagged 59 percent of the points on the first serve in the second set. Istomin capitalized on two of the four break point opportunities
he created on his opponent’s serve and saved one of the three break points on his own serve in the second set.
The six feet and two inches tall has won six out of 16 matches this year. Istomin gave his best performance of the season so far at the SAP Open, losing 4-6, 4-6 to Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals.
The Uzbek is drawn to take on either world number 48 Fabio Fognini of Italy or Latvian Ernests Gulbis, placed at 85th position in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, in the second round.
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