Igor Kunitsyn edges past Andrey Kuznetsov into second round – Kremlin Cup 2011
Firing up with the first round of the Kremlin Cup on Monday, 17th October, local Igor Kunitsyn, world No.60, went head on against compatriot, Andrey Kuznetsov, world No.236, in a hard hitting two hour and sixteen minutes
match that ended up 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, in favour of the higher ranked Russian.
Playing at the Olympic Stadium, the two had their first ever meeting on the light blue indoor hard court. Comparatively, Kuznetsov had been playing in Futures, however, his rival, the formal world No.35 has been up against the
top players of the world in his prior 10 matches giving the latter an unbeatable edge.
Kunitsyn fired up first and opened the scoreboard, 1-0, saving a break point. The 20-year-old followed with a win to level up the scores, 1-1. Kunitsyn did pressurize the young compatriot, however, Kuznetsov did put up a good effort
as he levelled up again and again, 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 and at 5-5.
What seemed to lead to a tiebreaker, ended with Kunitsyn serving out game 11 and breaking the world No.236 in game 12 to win the opening set, 7-5. Although the 20-year-old had all his techniques right, experience was the only difference
the higher ranked Russian had that lead to his win.
Moving on with the second set, Kunitsyn was instantly broken down by his compatriot, 1-0. Extending his lead further on, Kuznetsov pocketed his second win of the set to lead 2 games to zero. Finally winning his first game of set
2, Kunitsyn opened up his side of the scoreboard, 1-2.
Pushing away winning games on his serve, the young Russian pulled of another game, 1-3, before world No.60 pulled back and levelled up. Winning a game each next, 2-4, Kunitsyn served-n-broke winning 2 straight games and levelling
back the scores, 4-4.
Looking to end the show earlier than thought, Kunitsyn served next however, broke down, and lost, 4-5. Kuznetsov served out game 10 to run away with a cheeky second set win, 6-4, and off to the decider.
With the decider on its way, the first game went on long with 4 deuce ties. Finally saving a breakpoint, Kunitsyn opened up the scoreboard, 1-0, and switched the serve. Breaking the 20-year-old next, world No.60 extended his lead
to 2-0 and serving out the next game, 3-0.
Kuznetsov, however, did pull back as he serve-broke-served, 3 straight wins, to level up the scores 3-3, yet the higher ranked Russian was a bit too much for the young compatriot. Countering the 20-year-old’s straight set win,
Kunitsyn served-broke-served next finishing off the set 6-3, and the match, 2-1, to walk off into the second round of the ATP World Tour 250 event.
Through into the second round of the Kremlin Cup 2011, the Russian now plays the top seed of the event, Janko Tipsarevic, to battle it out for the quarterfinal seat.
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