Mikhail Kukushkin dumps Bernard Tomic in the round of 16 – Open de Nice Côte d’Azur 2012
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, pulled an upset in the second round, as he ousted fifth seed, Bernard Tomic of Australia, in three sets 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in France.
The 55th ranked Kazakh contender required two hours and 18 minutes to topple his opponent.
Kukushkin and Tomic made a steady start, as they held their serves in the opening seven games to take the score to 4-3 in the latter’s favour. The Australian made initial breakthrough in the eighth and held his following serve
to triumph 6-3.
Tomic hit 75 percent of the first serves and converted 18 of the 24 points in his favour in the opener. He also performed above than average on the second deliveries and first returns, bagging four of the eight and 13 of the 26
points on them respectively.
Kukushkin struck early in the second set, breaking the Australian in the second game to attain a 2-0 lead. They exchanged a break of serve in the following two, taking the score to 3-1. Tomic’s level of play dropped drastically,
as he lost his serve again in the eighth to go down 2-6.
The Kazakh smacked a single ace and 63 percent of the first serves, pocketing 10 of the 15 points on them. The 24-year-old gave an amazing performance on the second returns, as he lost only one point on them in the entire set,
winning eight of the nine. The 6ft tall put away three of the four break threats he came across and utilised three of the five opportunities he created.
Kukushkin and Tomic broke each other twice in the first 10 games of the final set to level the score at 5-5. The Kazakh held his serve in the 11th but Tomic could not do the same in the 12th, losing his serve
and dropping the set 5-7.
The Volgograd, Russia resident pounded three aces but also made a couple of double faults in the decider. He could not do well on the second serves, as he lost 13 of the 21 points on them but balanced that by winning nine of the
15 points on the second returns. Kukushkin saved six of the eight break points he faced and converted all the three he received.
Kukushkin will play world number 216, Brian Baker of USA, in the quarter-finals.
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