Steve Darcis, Sergiy Stakhovsky advance to the round of 32 – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
Steve Darcis beats Andrey Golubev 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5)
World number 66, Steve Darcis of Belgium, had to bring out his best to outlast his lower ranked opponent, Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, in three sets 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in the opening round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
in Spain on Monday.
It proved out to be the toughest match of the day, as the Belgian fought back from a deficit of one set, needing two tie-breakers to down Golubev after two hours and 36 minutes.
The first set went with the serve until the 10th game when Golubev snatched a break and ended it 6-4.
Golubev got the upper hand in the second set too, as he struck in the fourth game to attain a 3-1 lead but Darcis clinched next two, equalling the score at 3-3. Both of them held their serve in the following six games and took
it to 6-6, forcing a tie-breaker. The Belgian allowed Golubev to win just a couple of points, sealing it 7-6(2).
Darcis and Golubev did not lose their serve even once in the entire final set, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to another tie-breaker. The Belgian snatched a late mini-break and captured it 7-6(5).
The 28-year-old is slated to meet ninth seed, Fernando Verdasco, in the round of 32.
Sergiy Stakhovsky defeats Evgeny Donskoy 6-2, 6-3
Sergiy Stakhovsky, ranked 68th in the world, did not face much difficulty in routing world number 145, Evgeny Donskoy of Russia, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 and moving to the second round.
Stakhovsky took command from the start of the match, as he grabbed first three games to move ahead 3-0 in the opening set. The Ukrainian did not lose his own serve and claimed another break in the eighth game, winning it 6-2.
The right-hander did not allow Donskoy to come back into the match, hitting a blow to the Russian in the sixth game of the second set and holding his next serve to build a 5-2 lead. Stakhovsky made the most of this advantage and
bagged it 6-3.
The Ukrainian avoided the only break threat he faced and utilised three of the four opportunities he got in the match. He took just an hour and one minute to topple his opponent in a one sided contest.
Stakhovsky will lock horns with second seed, Andy Murray of Great Britain, in the second round. The world number four received a bye in the opener.
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