Jarkko Nieminen dismisses Denis Istomin in the second round – Winston-Salem Open 2011
World number 50 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland came back after losing the first set to rally past Uzbek Denis Istomin, ranked 68th in the world, in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 32 at the Winston-Salem Open in
North Carolina, USA on Tuesday. The Finn took an hour and 48 minutes to beat his opponent in a tough encounter.
Istomin was first to take lead, breaking the Finn in the third games of the first set and winning his next service game to go up 3-1. The Uzbek broke again at 5-3 and grabbed the set 6-3.
The Moscow, Russia resident fired two aces and 55 percent of the first deliveries, converting nine of the eleven of them into points in the opening set. Istomin gave a good second service performance as he won seven of the nine
points on the second serve in the first set. The 24-year-old claimed a whopping six of the fourteen first return points and converted both break points he received on Nieminen’s serve in the opening set.
Istomin and the Finn put on a strong serving display in the first eight games of the second set as they held their serve to equalise the score at 4-4. Nieminen made the breakthrough as he broke the Uzbek in the ninth game and held
his serve in the next game to clinch the set 6-4.
The Finn served well as he delivered three aces and 60 percent of the first serves, bagging fourteen of the eighteen points on them in the second set. The Masku resident captured seven of the twelve second service points and six
of the 21 first return points. The left-handed saved both break points he faced and capitalised on one of the four break point opportunities he created on the Uzbek’s serve in the second set.
With winning momentum on his side, Nieminen broke the Uzbek in the opening game of the third set and won his serve in the next game to build a 2-0 lead. Istomin broke back in the sixth game and levelled the score at 3-3. The Finn
hit the final blow, breaking Istomin in the ninth game and consolidating on it to seal the set 6-4.
The 30-year-old converted 23 of the 33 first serves and eight of the seventeen first returns into points in the final set.
Nieminen is slated to take on fourth seed John Isner of USA in the round of 16.
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