Grega Zemlja ousts Alex Kuznetsov in the second round – Istanbul Challenger 2012 CH
Third seeded Grega Zemlja disappointed the American professional, Alex Kuznetsov, in the second round of the American Express Istanbul Challenger held on the hard courts of Turkey. The Slovenian jolted
down his, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, win in a total of one hours and 57 minutes.
Ranked 78th in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Zemlja broke his rival’s serve in the third game and secured lead by 2-1. However, as the contest picked pace, both players smoothly progressed
without any break of serves. The American struggled hard to secure the upper hand but miserably failed to dominate. Zemlja nudge past his rival and penned down his 6-4 lead.
The second set reversed the order and the 25-year-old American commenced the set very confidently. He broke his rival’s serve in the fourth game to mark his 3-1 lead. The right-hander Slovenian completely lost
his momentum in the contest and proved powerless against his opponent’s ground strokes. Kuznetsov advanced in the set without any resistance and successfully stamped a 6-3 score.
The American fired five aces on his rival and double faulted once. He had a reasonable first serve accuracy of 55 percent, with 19 of 24 points. On the other end, Zemlja had a 59 percent first serve accuracy
with nine of 13 first and three of nine second serve points.
The decider proved to be a tough battle as both contestants successfully sustained their initial serves and the score line levelled to 2-all in fourth game. The 25-year-old Slovenian dissolved the American participant’s
serve in the sixth game, attaining a 4-2 lead. His keenly focused on the winning title and eventually concluded the set with a 6-3 win.
The Slovenian displayed high pace game plan as he smashed three aces but had below average 52 first serve percentage, capitalizing 12 of 14 points. Although, Kuznetsov had a 62 percent first serve percent, be
pocketed away nine of 13 points.
In the quarter-finals, Zemlja will contest against the seventh seeded, Karol Beck. The Slovakian native slaughtered his Italian rival, Riccardo Ghedin, 6-2, 6-1 in second round of ATP Challenger.
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