Denis Istomin rallies past Carlos Berlocq into the second round – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012
World number 44, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, overcame a slow start to beat Argentina’s 49th ranked player, Carlos Berlocq, in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
The Uzbek contender lost the opener 4-6, bounced back to claim the second set 6-2 and made a strong finish to win the decider 6-1, taking a total of two hours and one minutes to cross the victory line.
Istomin and Berlocq started the encounter by winning their opening serves to square off the score at 1-1. The Argentinean participant nailed an early break, as he hit a blow to Istomin in the third game and consolidated on it to
attain a 3-1 lead. Berlocq held his serve in the 10th game without losing even a single point, clinching it 6-4.
The Uzbek contestant gave a solid reply after losing the opener, as he grabbed first three games of the second one to gain a 3-0 advantage. Serving to stay in the set at 2-5, Berlocq could not hold and lost it 2-6.
The Argentinean player drew the first blood in the final set, stinging a break in the opening game to go up 1-0. Though, he was unable to win even a single one later on, getting broken three times and dropping six in a row to lose
a reverse French set 1-6.
Istomin fired a total of six aces and committed a single double fault, keeping his first serve percentage at 67 and securing 40 of the 59 points on them. In comparison, Berlocq hit three aces but he made six horrible double faults
as well. The Argentinean fared poorly on the second deliveries and first returns, losing 15 of the 23 and 40 of the 59 points on them respectively. The 29-year-old failed to avail four of the six break chances he got and could not put away five of the six
threats he came across in the match.
The Uzbek contender is slated to meet the 13th seeded player from Switzerland, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the second round. The Swiss national beat Albert Ramos in straight sets 7-6(1), 7-6(5) in the opener.
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