Stanislas Wawrinka rallies past Sergiy Stakhovsky into the second round – US Open 2012
Switzerland’s 18th seeded player, Stanislas Wawrinka, survived a slow start to beat the world number 98, Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, in four sets 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the US Open at the Flushing
Meadows in New York on Tuesday.
The Swiss number two needed three hours and three minutes to throw his rival out of the competition and book his own place in the round of 64.
Wawrinka and Stakhovsky held their serves throughout the first set to square off the score at 6-6 and take it to a tie-breaker. The Ukrainian player grabbed a 4-1 lead at the start but Wawrinka clawed his way back to level it at
6-6. However, the Swiss star’s efforts went useless, as Stakhovsky captured two points in a row after that to clinch it 7-6(6).
In the second set, Wawrinka began ideally, as he snatched a break in the second game and consolidated on it to go up 3-0. Though, Stakhovsky hit a blow to him in the ninth and held his following serve to even out the proceedings
at 5-5. The following two games went with serves to take the score to 6-6 and force a tie-breaker. Wawrinka played brilliantly form start to end this time to grab it 7-6(2).
The Swiss contender clinched a breakthrough in the first game of the third set and won his next serve to gain a 2-0 advantage. Wawrinka struck again in the seventh to stretch his lead to 5-2 but Stakhovsky secured the following
two, reducing it to 4-5. However, the Swiss contender did not miss his second chance and served it out without losing even a single point, triumphing 6-4.
Wawrinka and Stakhovsky held their opening serves to equalise the score at 1-1 in the fourth set. The Swiss participant went on a winning spree later on, bagging four games in a row to race to a 5-1 advantage. Stakhovsky managed
to win one more but nothing more than that, going down 2-6.
The 27-year-old banged in a total of 12 aces and committed five double faults in the match. The 6ft tall had a decent conversion rate, pocketing 49 of the 62 first and 46 of the 73 second serve points.
In the second round, Wawrinka will face Belgium’s Steve Darcis, who defeated Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in four sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in the opening match.
Tags: