Denis Istomin prevails over Pablo Andujar in round one – Apia International Sydney 2012
Uzbek qualifier, Denis Istomin, once again stunned everyone with his amazing tennis abilities, outplaying the 44th ranked Spaniard, Pablo Andujar, in the opening round of the Apia International Sydney on Monday. The
world number 67 took almost two hours to wrap up the three-setter 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, booking a berth in the round of 16 at the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
Being played on the hard courts of the NSW Tennis Centre in Sydney, Australia, the contest remained evenly poised throughout, with both men labouring extremely hard to get the better of one another. The Inferior ranked Uzbek had
a blistering start to the contest, racing past his opponent to clinch the opener in 30 minutes to get one up early in the matchup. Istomin’s game went through a terrible slump in the following set to let Andujar back in business but made a tremendous recovery
in the final set to turn the tables on the Spaniard.
Istomin delivered 60 per cent of his first serve on target and secured 33 out of 46 points on it en route to victory. He crafted a total of 10 break opportunities but only three timely conversions proved it sufficient for the Uzbek
to close out the contest in his favour.
Istomin drew first blood in the second game of the match to break in the 3-0 lead after holding his serve and then kept the upper hand in the remaining set to seal the opener at 6-3. Andujar backfired at him in the sixth and eighth
games of the second set to bring the scores down on even terms once again. However, two more break point conversions from Istomin in the fifth and ninth games of the final set proved to be decisive, with the Uzbek qualifier winning with 6-3 score in the set.
Up next for Istomin in the second round is the lucky loser from the United States, Ryan Sweeting. The American outplayed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in an enthralling first round battle to book a date with Istomin and the two men
will go one-on-one against Istomin for a place in the quarter-finals of the Apia International Sydney.
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