Santiago Giraldo stuns Denis Istomin in the opening round – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
World number 54, Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, moved to the round of 32, as he surprised 18th seed, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-4 in the first round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in
Spain on Monday.
Giraldo claimed initial breakthrough in the third game of the first set to go ahead 2-1 but the Uzbek struck back immediately to square off the score at 2-2. They held their serve in the rest of the set to take it to 6-6 and force
a tie-breaker. Giraldo made a fine start and raced to a 5-1 lead, making the most of it to triumph 7-6(3).
The Colombian smacked four aces and delivered 69 percent of the first serves, pocketing 20 of the 31 points on them in the opener. On the other hand, Istomin served better than Giraldo, as he pounded four aces and 76 percent of
the first deliveries, converting 20 of the 28 of them into points. However, he lagged behind on returns, as he won just five of the 14 points compared to four of the nine by the Colombian.
Giraldo made even better start in the second set, claiming a break in the fourth game and holding his following serve to grab a 4-1 advantage. Istomin hit back to even it out at 4-4. However, the Colombian did not allow his opponent
to take it to a tie-breaker this time, as he clinched two consecutive games to close it 6-4.
The 6ft 2in tall banged in one ace and 71 percent of the first serves, winning 14 of the 20 points on them. Giraldo responded aggressively to his opponent’s second deliveries and the trick worked well for him, as he bagged seven
of the 10 points. The Colombian put away one of the two break threats he came across and utilized two of the seven opportunities he created in the second set.
The Colombian took just one hour and 39 minutes to outplay Istomin.
Giraldo has won 14 of the 23 matches he has played in 2012. He gave his best performance at the Sony Ericsson Open, where he upset the then world number 17, Kei Nishikori, in the second round.
The Colombian is slated to take on either Sergei Bubka or Robin Haase in the second round.
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