Sergiy Stakhovsky stuns Feliciano Lopez in the second round – If Stockholm Open 2012
Ranked 92nd in the world, Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine put on a good effort to surprise Spain’s fifth seeded player, Feliciano Lopez, in straight sets 7-6(5), 7-5 in the round of 16 at the If Stockholm Open in Sweden.
The Ukrainian, who is featuring in his 30th tour level tournament of the season, has succeeded in reaching the last-eight stage for the first time in this year. With this win, he improved his win/loss record to 16-27
in this season.
Stakhovsky and Lopez put on a brilliant serving display in the first set, as they did not allow each other to claim a break till the end, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. The Ukrainian contender raced
to a 4-1 lead but Lopez bounced back to square it off at 4-4. Stakhovsky captured three of the next four points after that to win 7-6(5).
Having a height of 6ft 4in, Stakhovsky was able to hit blistering serves, bombarding eight aces and capturing 23 of the 28 points on the first deliveries. The Ukrainian participant also fared very well on the second serves and
returns, sealing seven of the 11 and eight of the 14 points on them respectively.
Second set also went with serves in the first 10 games, taking the score to 5-5. Stakhovsky succeeded in making a breakthrough in the 11th and capitalised on it to triumph 7-5.
The Ukrainian national once again hit eight aces but this time he also committed three double faults in the second set. The 26-year-old captured most of the points on his first serves and second returns, claiming 21 of the 28 and
seven of the 11 points on them respectively. The Bratislava, Slovakia resident put away the one break threat he came across and availed one of the two opportunities he created.
Stakhovsky will play the top seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, in the quarter-finals. Tsonga defeated Japan’s Go Soeda in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(6) in the second round.
Meanwhile, Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis advanced to the last eight stage, when his rival, Alejandro Falla, retired during their second round match.
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