Michael Russell rallies past Gleb Sakharov in the second round – Istanbul Challenger 2012
Right-hander American professional, Michael Russell ousted the Frenchman, Gleb Sakharov in the second round of the American Express ATP Challenger held at the hard courts of Turkey. The American consolidated
his 6-2, 6-3 win in a total of one hour and 11 minutes.
The fourth seeded, Russell took a flying start in the openings set of the match and secured a 2-1 lead but the score line instantaneously squared out to 2-all in the fourth game. He faced a strong resistance
at the hands of his opponent but busted his serve in the sixth game to clinch a 4-2 lead. After that point, Sakharov was unable to withstand the pressure and lost the opener with a 2-6 score.
The 24-year-old, Sakharov maintained 62 percent initial serve accuracy and won eight of 16 first and five of 10 second deliveries. The American veteran bombarded four aces, with a 67 percent first serve precision,
firing 10 of 14 first and six of seven second serve points.
The world number 105, Russell, confidently made his way through the second set without facing any break. He drew the first blood in the series and took opportunity of his rival’s weak game plan to clinch the
first three games in a series, bringing the score like to 3-0. He progressed forward with a strong resolve to win and dominated his rival the entire time. Nonetheless, Sakharov struggled hard to throw his challenger but all his endeavours seemed ineffective.
The American senior pushed his rival and gleefully manifested his 6-3 win.
Both players evenly fired four aces each on each other, Russell’s secured the front with a 68 percent initial serve but 20 of 21 points. On the other hand, the Frenchman had a superior initial serve of 79 percent
and could only pouch away 12 of 19 first and three of five second delivery points. The 34-year-old American capitalized all the three break points presented to him, whereas Sakharov managed to bag one of two.
For the quarter-finals the American veteran will fight against another Frenchman, Maxime Teixeira. He routed the American, Denis Zivkovic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
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