Denis Istomin rallies past Jose Statham in round two – Brunei International 2012 CH
Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan proved his brilliance with a comprehensive straight sets win against the Kiwi underdog, Jose Statham, in the opening round of the Brunei International Challenger tournament. On Tuesday, both players
locked horns on hard courts for the first time and 57th ranked Uzbek doggedly hammer his opponent to register a win in just over an hour and 4 minutes with cumulative scores of 6-4, 6-3.
Previously, both these contestants had fought against one another on couple of occasions on clay courts; during the Italy F18 in June 2006 and Davis Cup tie in March last year. Istomin was the winner at both events, nailing
his opponent down in exhausting three-setters but this time he wasted less stamina in rounding off the triumph in a couple of sets.
Istomin was ought to dominate the proceedings, provided his exclusive timing and better shot making ability than his opponent. He started the proceedings by holding on to his serve comprehensively and giving no chance to
his opponent. Statham faced sheer resistance during his first serve game; after saving three breakpoints, he held his serve and levelled the scores at 1-1. Both players capitalized on their serves and pushed the scores to 5-4 in favour of the Uzbek with his
opponent to serve the next game.
A terrific battle in the tenth game between the two participants witnessed some eye-startling winners at both ends; it was the superior ranked Istomin who bagged the vital point to break serve and seal the first set triumph.
It was always a difficult task for the Kiwi starlet to register a set lead against his opponent and after losing the first set, the chances of winning the match were almost negligible for him.
Second set was started by Istomin, who held his serve to exert more pressure on his opponent. The Kiwi contestant was finding it very difficult to find any breakthrough. First three games of the second set finished for respective
serve players before the Uzbek capitalized on the double-fault of his opponent to break serve and take a lead. Statham couldn’t recover the trail and lost the match in straight sets.
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