Sergiy Stakhovsky prevails over Teymuraz Gabashvili in the opening round of Open de Nice
World number 34 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine ousted world number 81 Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-3 in the first round at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in Nice on Tuesday. The Ukrainian took an hour and 47 minutes to beat his opponent.
Gabashvili drew the first blood as he broke Stakhovsky in the third game of the opening set and held his serve in the next game to take a 3-1 lead. However, his lead did not last for long as Stakhovsky broke in the sixth game and levelled the score at 3-3. The Ukrainian and Gabashvili held their serve in the next six games to tie the score at 6-6, forcing a tie-break. Stakhovsky grabbed a single mini-break in the tie-break, clinching it 7-5.
The 25-year-old fired four aces but the Ukrainian was erratic with his second serve, committing three double faults in the first set. Stakhovsky delivered 66 percent of the first serves, clinching 74 percent of the points on them. On the other hand, Gabashvili had a higher first serve percentage as he hit 71 percent of the first serves but he lagged behind in the conversion rate, converting 63 percent of the first serves into points in the opening set. Stakhovsky sealed 38 percent of the points on the first returns in the first set. The Ukrainian capitalized on one of the three break points he created on Gabashvili’s serve in the opening set.
In the second set, Stakhovsky took the lead from the start as he broke Gabashvili in the opening game and consolidated on it to go ahead 2-0. Both players went on to hold serve in the next six games. Serving to stay in the set at 3-5, Gabashvili failed to hold his serve and lost the set 3-6.
Stakhovsky hit two aces and 61 percent of the first serves in the second set. The Ukrainian claimed 79 percent of the first service points in the second set. In comparison, Gabashvili served poorly as he committed five double faults in the second set. The Russian kept his first serve percentage at 69 percent and grabbed 59 percent of the points on the first serve in the second set. The right-handed failed to save two of the four break points he faced in the second set.
Stakhovsky is featuring for the second straight year at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur. The Ukrainian lost to Fernando Verdasco of Spain in straight sets 2-6, 7-6(5), 4-6 in the quarterfinals last year.
The six feet and four inches tall is drawn to meet Dutch Robin Haase, ranked 59th in the world, in the second round. Haase defeated world number 56 Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round.
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