Denis Istomin pounces over Sam Querrey in the opening round – SAP Open 2012
Uzbekistan ace, Denis Istomin, overpowered the local star, Sam Querrey, in brutal three sets at the SAP Open 2012 on Wednesday. He jolted down a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 success against the San Francisco native to book a place in the second round at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in San Jose, United States.
World number 61 showed tremendous skills and agility to triumph over the American in their fourth meeting. After 125-minutes long marathon, the Uzbek not only avenged his loss at the Memphis ATP event last year but also levelled the scores at the FedEx ATP
Head2Head series by 2-2 against Querrey.
Ranked 85th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Querrey made quick in-roads. He suffered the first blow in the fourth game but quickly recovered in the very next game. The American then held remaining serves and earned the breakthrough
in the eleventh game to clinch the opener with a 7-5 score line.
The 25-year-old sought his maiden ATP career track in the following set. He earned the desiderated break in the sixth game and swiped in entire serves to pull out the equaliser with a 6-3 win. Istomin saved both breakpoints he faced and converted one out
of three break chances to his advantage.
The Uzbek kept momentum sailing into the final set and held his opening serve in the second game to level the scores at 1-1. He continued plucking remaining serves and cashed the only break chance in the eleventh game, ultimately pulling out the decider
with a 7-5 victory.
Summing up the rising star’s performance, Istomin clobbered a much better first serve share and magnificently clinched 54 out of 76 points on it. He brushed off 10 out of 12 breakpoints he faced and converted three out of 11 break chances to his advantage.
The Uzbek then capitalised fully on the several unforced errors and eight double faults Querrey spilled.
Next up for Istomin is another local challenger, Michael Russell, who upset the seventh seed, Donald Young, with a breadstick to occupy this position.
In a late night match, defending champion Milos Raonic eased past Tobias Kamke in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals. The booming Canadian hammered 18 aces and broke Kamke’s serve three times to pocket the match with a 6-2, 7-6(7) success. He required
one hour and 25-minutes to outclass the German in their second meeting.
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