Lukas Rosol upsets Denis Istomin to enter quarters – Kremlin Cup 2012
Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol shocked the sixth seed, Denis Istomin, in a three-set thriller at the Kremlin Cup 2012 on Wednesday. He hit back to formulate a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory against the 26-year-old to secure a place in the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 Series event held in Moscow, Russia.
The Czech rising star, Rosol displayed brilliant skills to jolt down the Uzbekistani number one in their second meeting at this indoor hard court event. After ruling the match in one hour and 58 minutes, Rosol not only avenged his loss in Hamburg two years ago but also levelled the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series by 1-1 against the world number 43.
The seeded Uzbek assertively entered the Olympic Stadium. He blocked the lone breakpoint he faced to keep his entire serves. Istomin got the breakthrough in the seventh game after capitalising on one out of four break opportunities and clicked the opener with a 6-4 win.
Ranked 88th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Rosol re-focused his strategy in the following set. He stuck four aces and was never threatened en route to keeping his serves. The Czech cashed one out of four break chances in the last game and pulled out the equaliser with a 6-4 score line.
The match could have gone in any direction but Rosol maintained consistency in his game. He swiftly bagged his entire serve without facing any breakpoint and required a single break of serve in the eighth game, eventually sealing the decider by winning six games to three.
Overall, Rosol withstood 10 aces to prevail. He spilled more unforced errors and clobbered a lower first serve share of 59 per cent as compared to his rival’s 68 per cent. However, the Czech impressively marked 39 out of 49 points on it and finished the deal with 95 points.
Next in line for Rosol is Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri who stunned third seeded Viktor Troicki in a three-set thriller to set up this meeting. He was broken once but availed four out of seven break chances to formulate a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory.
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