Denis Istomin downs Marinko Matosevic in opening round – Malaysian Open 2011
Denis Istomin, Uzbek, sailed through the 1st round of the Malaysian Open 2011 today, Wednesday, 28th September, defeating the world No.154, Marinko Matosevic in an hour and 13 minutes, 6-3, 6-2. Playing at
the Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Istomin went on dominating the indoor hard court with much ease to qualify into the 2nd stage of the ATP tour 250 event.
Matosevic, aged 26, landed in the hands of the world No.61 unluckily. The Uzbek has had a 100 percent win record regarding his last 10 matches. Winning at Istanbul and Tashkent, Istomin had a perfect view of the hard court at Kuala
Lumpur. Outplaying the Aussie with the back on his hand, the 25-year-old succeeded the 1st rounder in style.
Opening up the match, Istomin won the toss and served first. Following his challenger, Matosevic levelled up next winning game 2, 1-1, and switched the serve back to the Uzbek. With the two winning a game each next, levelled up
once again in set 1 with the 25-year-old to serve again.
Istomin started bulldozing the world No.154 as he served out game 5 and broke the Aussie in 6th to lead the set, 4-2. Carving up the lead, Istomin bagged another game before Matosevic won his 3rd game, game
8. With a game left for the Uzbek to win the set, the 25-year-old mustered game 9 and took out the set 6-3, and led the match 1-0.
Pulling off the first set Istomin stood to return the Aussie for the second set opener. Serving out the first game, Matosevic rolled up the scoreboard, 1-0. Following up with a win, Uzbek world No. 61 won game 2 and lit up the
fire breaking the Aussie in game 3.
Istomin continued to dominate as he pulled off another game to extend his lead to 3-1. Working his way up Matosevic finally won a game to cut the lead to 2-3, however, could not break back. On the other hand, the 25-year-old went
on for the kill as he served-broke-served the next 3 games, blistering the world No.154 with lighting winners, and acing away to win the final game and the set, 6-2.
With a straight set victory in his closet, the Uzbek shook hands and applauded the stands for their support. Nevertheless the two put on a small show yet worth a watch. Istomin enters the 2nd round as the last entry.
The world No.61 will now stand against the second seeded Serbian, Viktor Troicki for a spot in the quarterfinals.
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