Maxime Teixeira battles past Dennis Zivkovic in the second round – Istanbul Challenger 2012 CH
World number 247th, Maxime Teixeira, defeated the American, Dennis Zivkovic, in the second round of the American Express Istanbul Challenger held at the hard courts of Turkey. The Frenchman ousted
his rival in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 taking not more than one hour and 39 minutes.
The 24-year-old, Zivkovic was unable to secure the front in the opener and gave the opportunity to the Frenchman to mark his 2-1 lead. The American nudged forward and broke his rival’s serve in the fourth game,
bringing the score line to 2-all. After that point both contestants battled hard, resulting in evening the scores to 3-all in the sixth and 4-all in the eighth game. Teixeira realized the gravity of the situation and took a speedy launch, clinching the last
two games to wrap up the opening set with a 6-4 score.
The right-hander French professional faulted four times, with a lower initial serve of 58 percent. He capitalized 14 of 21 points. On the contrary, Zivkovic had a higher initial serve accuracy of 70 percent,
snatching 15 of 30 first and seven of 13 second sever points.
The 23-year-old French participant exhibited his excellent game plan since the start of the final set. He clamped the initial two games and marked his 2-love lead. The right-hander American struggled hard to
shock his rival but miserably failed. By the middle of the set, Teixeira dominated the scores line with a 4-2 score. However, both the competitors were unable to break each other’s serve and conclude the set with his 6-4 win.
Ranked 310th in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Zivkovic was unable to strike any lead as he double faulted twice at the critical moments in the set. He had a reasonable first serve precision
of 69 percent, bagging 17 of 29 first and seven of 13 second serve points. Fortunately, he penned down six of seven serve breaks offered to him. His challenger had a higher initial serve presentation of 74 percent, converting 14 of 20 first and six of seven
second serve points in the closing.
For the quarter-finals Teixeira will encounter the fourth seeded, Michael Russell. The American professional previously defeated the French, Gleb Sakharov in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
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