Michael Russell defeats Maxime Teixeira in the quarter-finals – Istanbul Challenger 2012 CH
Fourth seed Michael Russell triumphed over the Frenchman, Maxime Teixeira, in the quarter-finals of the Istanbul Challenger, held at the hard courts of Turkey. The American professional
ousts his rival and scooped off his 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 on the eve of Friday.
The duo encountered each other for the first time and the American unveiled his true colours after the first game, successfully bagging the last two sets of the match. The Frenchman displayed his excellent run
of form and confidently drew the first blood to initiate the opener. The 34-year-old American professional seemed powerless in front of his opponent, as he was unable to stand up and fire a hit. Teixeira broke his serve twice, in the third game with a 2-1
score and fifth game to 4-1 lead. He reeled off all the last two games in a row, marking the first set at 6-2.
The right-hander American professional manifested 68 percent first serve accuracy, with eight of 17 points on it. On the other hand, the French junior attacked his rival with six aces and committed double faults
three times. Fortunately, he secured 15 of 19 points and capitalized on all the two break points presented to him.
The second set proved a tough encounter as the American was activated and desperate to seal the winning title. He struggled hard and dominated the major part of set, breaching the French professional’s serve
in the sixth game, to clamp his 4-2 lead. The 23-year-old French evened out the scores in the eighth game, by 4-4 and in the tenth game by 5-5. Russell broke his rival’s serve again and stole the set by a 7-6(6) score.
Ranked 247th in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Teixeira, attempted to come back and dissolved Russell’s serve in the fourth game, securing a 3-1 lead. The American tennis professional gained
momentum and squared out the score line twice i.e. in the sixth game to 3-3 and eighth game to 4-4. In the second last game, he broke his opponent’s serve and clamped away a 6-4 win.
The American veteran bounced forward, exhibiting 76 first serve precision with 15 of 28 points. He also utilized four of six break points offered to him. Teixeira could only wrap up 44 percent initial serve accuracy
with eight of 14 points in the closing set.
For the next challenge, the American will face the eighth seeded, Dmitry Tursunov. The Russian professional rallied past after a tough battle against the top seeded, Malek Jaziri, 6-3,3-6, 6-2.
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