Marinko Matosevic edges past Igor Kunitsyn into second round – Atlanta Tennis Championships 2011
World number 169, qualifier Marinko Matosevic of Australia came from behind to upset sixth seed Igor Kunitsyn of Russia in three sets 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5 in the opening round at the Atlanta Tennis Championships in Atlanta on Tuesday.
The Australian needed two hours and 49 minutes to outlast his opponent in a marathon match.
Matosevic and the Russian broke each other two times in the first set and squared off the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. Kunitsyn overpowered his opponent in the tie-break as he claimed three mini-breaks to win it
7-3.
The Russian hit 58 percent of the first serves and a couple of aces in the first set. Kunitsyn had a satisfactory service conversion rate, converting 69 percent of the first serves and 52 percent of the second serves into points
in the opening set. The five feet and eleven inches tall, however, returned well as he won 40 percent of the first return points. The Russian capitalised on two of the three break points he received on the Australian's serve and saved four of the six break
points he faced in the first set.
Matosevic raised the level of his game in the second set, dropping just two games and breaking the Russian twice to capture the set 6-2.
The Australian kept his first serve percentage at 60 percent and fired three aces in the second set. The 25-year-old amazingly won 100 percent of the first service points in the second set. Kunitsyn matched his opponent’s service
performance as he did not lose a single point on the first serve. The Russian, however, won just 31 percent of the second service points compared to 50 percent by his opponent. The 29-year-old failed to save two of the three break points he faced in the second
set.
Matosevic carried the winning momentum into the final set and broke the Russian in the third game, holding his serve in the next game to take a 3-1 lead. Kunitsyn was not in a mood to surrender as he broke back in the eighth game
to level the score at 4-4. However, it was the Australian who clinched the decisive break in the eleventh game and served out the set at 6-5.
The Melbourne resident fired six aces and won 90 percent of the first service points in the third set. The right-handed won two of the three break points he received on the Russian’s serve and saved one of the two break points
on his own serve in the deciding set.
Matosevic is slated to take on Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
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