Igor Kunitsyn trounces Adrian Sikora in opening round – Siberia Cup 2012 CH
Local star, Igor Kunitsyn, tumbled the Slovakian challenger, Adrian Sikora, in straight sets at the Siberia Cup 2012 on Tuesday. He juggled up a 6-2, 6-2 victory against the world number 432 to charge into the second round at this ATP (Association of Tennis
Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place in Tyumen, Russia.
Seeded sixth in this tournament, Kunitsyn brought his experience into handy to overpower the Slovak in their first encounter. After earning the spotlight in one hour and four minutes, the Russian booked a spot in the round of 16.
The 31-year-old made a powerful entry at this indoor hard court tournament taking place from 19th to 25th November. He drew the first blood in the fourth game and jumped to a 4-1 lead. Kunitsyn held his remaining serves with poise and
capitalised on another break chance in the last game, eventually sealing the opener by winning six games to two. He was never challenged with any barrier and converted two out of 12 break chances to his advantage.
Ranked 168th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Kunitsyn carried his rhythm in the following set. He broke his rival’s serve twice and jumped to a 5-1 lead. Despite squandering his chance of serving out the breadstick, the Russian
broke again and ultimately clicked the set with a 6-2 win. He superbly warded off three out of four breakpoints he came across and cashed all three break chances to steal the limelight.
All in all, Kunitsyn fired four aces and ended the deal with 71 points. He took full advantage of several double faults the Slovak coughed and clobbered a better first serve share of 72 per cent as compared to his rival’s 65 per cent. The Russian also amazingly
marked 26 out of 38 points on it.
Next up for the seed is the winner of the match between the local wild card entrant, Anton Manegin, and the Belarusian qualifier, Alexander Bury.
The second seed, Josselin Ouanna, battled past Russia’s Alexander Lobkov to accompany Kunitsyn. The seeded French lost his serve once but cashed two out of five break chances to steal the show.
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