Jesse Levine defeats Alex Kuznetsov in 1st round – Knoxville Challenger 2011
American Jesse Levine recoiled from a set down to get rid of compatriot Alex Kuznetsov in the first round of the Knoxville Challenger 2011.
Both had duelled out with each other on indoor hard courts of the University of Tennessee’s Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It took Levine a lengthy three hours and two minutes to bounce back from a set down
to score 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 7-5 against the lower ranked Kuznetsov on the 9th of November 2011.
Although, the match was pretty close as both the players were a good competition against each other, Levine had taken a notch higher after he saw a defeat in the first set.
Nevertheless, the opening set was kicked off by Levine and both the players had managed to hold their service games to bag a game each. In the following six games the score kept tied at 2-2, 3-3 and then 4-4 at the end of the eighth
game. During the last four games, the players once more held their serves and the score balanced out at 5-5 at the end of the tenth game and by the twelfth game the set was pushed into a tiebreaker.
During the tiebreaker, the toe-to-toe run carried on between the two and the score progressed on even terms at two points each, then at four points each and finally at six points each. Nevertheless, in the following two games Kuznetsov
had broken his adversary and with a hold of serve clinched the tiebreaker at 8-6 to go one up in the match.
During the second set the players once more bagged their service games and tied the score at 1-1. In subsequent two games, the players traded in breaks and the score had balanced out at two games each. From there onwards, the players
matched an eye for an eye and the set was pushed into another tiebreaker.
However, this time the steam was lost in the head-to-head run between the two and for the initial points the score tied at 1-1 and then 2-2. However, from there onwards Levine rushed past his adversary to clog the tiebreaker at
7-3 and in doing so; each player had bagged a set apiece.
The decisive set was initiated by Levine and once more the players kept the score levelled at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, and finally at 5-5 by the end of the first ten games. However, this time the set was not pushed into a tiebreaker
as Kuznetsov had double faulted on his second serve of the twelfth game, while, Levine had accomplished to triumph the set and the match.
Up next for Levine is the third seeded South African Rik De Voest in the second round of the event.
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