Dmitry Tursunov defeats Michael Russell in the semi-finals – Istanbul Challenger 2012 CH
Seeded eighth, Dmitry Tursunov gave a straight sets shocker to his American professional, Michael Russell in the semi-final of the American Express ATP Challenger held at the hard courts of Istanbul, Turkey.
The Russian summed up his victory at 7-5, 6-4, in a total of one hour and 29 minutes on the eve of Saturday.
The duo contested each other seven times in total and Tursunov maintained his 4-3 lead in the head-to-head series. Previously, Russell gave the Russian an upset in the first round at the hard courts of his home
ground at the Farmers Classic, Los Angeles last year.
The 34-year-old American commenced the opener and confidently drew the first blood, mounting the score line with a 2-1 lead. However, the Russian did not lose any hope and evened out the scores three times. Both
players smoothly advanced in the set and Tursunov materialized the opportunity towards the end, wrapping up the opener at 7-5.
The right-hander Russian challenger had a good first serve accuracy of 71 percent, pocketing away 22 of 24 points on it. On the other hand, Russell had a below average initial serve, winning nine of 12 points.
The 34-year-old American picked a sloppy start in the following set. He was unable to hold his initial serve in the serve and the Russian nudged forward to clamp the opportunity, securing a 2-love lead. Tursunov
then picked a flying start and finalized the match with his 6-4 win.
The fourth seeded American majorly lagged behind because of his four double faults, along with 65 percent initial serve. He also bagged away 14 of 20 points, with three of four serve breaks presented to him.
The Russian challenger smashed seven aces against his rival and had a 67 percent first serve precision. He capitalized 17 of 20 points and was unable to snatch away even a single serve break in the set.
For the final, Tursunov will contest against Adrian Mannarino. The French contender defeated Grega Zemlja in straight sets, 7-6(5), 6-4.
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