Igor Kunitsyn ousts local Ryan Sweeting in straight sets – Farmers Classic 2011
Ryan Sweeting of USA played his 2nd round match of the Farmers Classic 2011 on Thursday against Igor Kunitsyn of Russia in a two setter match to the quarter-finals. The match was played at the LA tennis Centre that was
full of home crowd to support their player. However, they did not find a happy ending as the American lost in straight sets but never the less the match was worth a watch.
Ryan Sweeting, world no.65, stands at a massive 6’5” and gives a great scare to his opponent. The Bahamas born American turned pro in 2007 and made his way up the rankings in a very short time. The 24-year-old pulled off a great
match giving a tough win to the Russian tennis pro.
On the contrary, the Russian had that one edge over the American to nick the match away. Ranked at world no.60, the 29-year-old is an antique in tennis. Playing since 1999, the Russian has managed to win 1 career title so far.
Although the Russian is old and shorter than the American, his agility made that one difference and allowed him to win the game.
The match started off with the cheer from the fans for the players as they took their stands at the baseline. Serving the starter, Igor went off taking the lead. Following the Russian, the 24-year-old Ryan, answered every shot
that the Russian played. Soon the set stuck on a tiebreaker. Igor pulled off the tiebreaker winning the set 7-6(4) totalling 45 points, just 3 ahead of the American. His set win included 27 service points and 18 returners. Igor aced the home player 3 times
and broke only once.
The second set boiled up same as the first one. Both players broke each other 3 times each, finally leading to another melting point, a tiebreaker. The match went so unbelievably close that even the American had more points in
total than that of the Russian, he still lost. Securing 41 points in total, the world No.60 won 21 service and 20 return points to win the final set 7-6(6) and the match 7-6(4), 7-6(6).
The final stats were nonetheless the same for both the players. With 86 points in total the Russian had a 59 percent service wins and 43 percent of returners. Both players won four breakpoints each altogether. Although Ryan was
better at 1st serve winners, they alone could not win him the match.
Kunitsyn now sits in the quarter-finals to play top ranked local, Mardy Fish.
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