Michael Russell upsets Donald Young in the opening round – SAP Open 2012
American rising star, Michael Russell, stunned his seventh seeded compatriot, Donald Young, with a breadstick at the SAP Open 2012 on Tuesday. He warded off late resistance to earn a 6-1, 7-6(6) success against his fellow citizen to advance into the second
round at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place at the HP Pavilion.
The 33-year-old barely sweated in the opening set to dump Young out of the tournament in their third tour level meeting. He not only avenged his loss at the Legg Mason ATP event last year but also took lead in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series by 2-1 against
his compatriot.
Ranked 104th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Russell stormed into the opening set and quickly leaped to go 3-0 up with a break of serve. He then held remaining serves and converted another break chance to his advantage in
the sixth game, subsequently clinching the opener with a tremendous 6-1 score line.
The Detroit native lost his track in the fourth game of the following set and went 3-1 down. He recovered in the following game but gifted away his serve again in the eighth game to trail at 3-5. However, Russell snatched his break back in the follow-up
game and after exchanging another serve break in the end, he took the set to a tie-breaker. The unseeded American prevailed in it and eventually sealed the set with a 7-6(6) win.
Summing up the rising star’s performance, Russell produced a better first serve share of 68 percent as opposed to Young’s 58 percent and smashed two massive aces. He also spectacularly registered 29 out of 46 points on his first serve share and availed five
out of nine break opportunities.
Next up for the beaming American is the conqueror of the match between Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin and America’s Sam Querrey.
Robby Ginepri will accompany his compatriot in the round of 16. He crushed the Belgian star, Xavier Malisse, with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 victory in under an hour. The wild card saved all four breakpoints he came across and broke Malisse’s serve five times
to dominate.
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