Igor Kunitsyn downs Fernando Gonzalez in thrilling opener - Farmers Classic 2011
Igor Kunitsyn marked his entry into the Farmers Classis at Los Angeles in flamboyant style. The eighth seed Russian Kunitsyn easily took down Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in an exciting but cleanly executed two set victory in their
first round match. Lasting for a little over an hour and a half, a win in this match guarantees Kunitsyn a place in the second round of the US Open Series tournament.
The 29 year old Kunitsyn, currently ranked at No. 60, hasn’t had a favourable year so far with his wins mostly coming from the challenger circuit tournaments. He registered his best ATP tour performance at Eastbourne in June where
he managed to reach up till the semi-finals. Kunitsyn suffered a humiliating setback in Atlanta recently where he lost to Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic in his first round match. But if he continues with the performance he exhibited Tuesday, he can
become a serious threat in the early draws of the US Open.
Gonzalez meanwhile had been on an upward trend ever since he recovered from a relentless bout of injuries earlier in the year. The Australian Open finalist performed expertly at the Wimbledon, where he lost in a third round match
to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tuesday’s match was the second meeting between him and Kunitsyn. Gonzalez had won their first match back in 2009 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami, Florida easily 6-4, 6-4. Their head to head ranking now stands balanced at 1-1.
The first set saw both the players bag three deftly placed aces each but unfortunately for Gonzalez; he committed three brutally iniquitous double faults to render his aces useless. Both the players served equally at around 57%
but the loser Gonzalez managed to win 16 points of his 20 serves, four more than Kunitsyn. The Russian managed to steer past him by registering a serve break to break his opponent’s stride and win the set 6-4. Kunitsyn didn’t face even a single breakpoint
situation in this set.
The second set followed suit but Igor’s serves went down to a dismal 1st serve percentage of 37. But he more than made up for it by 85% of his first serve points. Despite bagging five massive aces, Gonzalez couldn’t
help but crumble under the excruciating burden of the two serve breaks won by Kunitsyn. The second set too closed at 6-3, with Kunitsyn winning by a huge margin.
Kunitsyn will now meet American Ryan Sweeting in their second round match at the Straus Stadium, on campus at UCLA. Sweeting had swiftly taken down Indian Somdev Devvarman in the first opening round match of the Farmers Classic
on Monday.
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