Steve Darcis overcomes Dmitry Tursunov in the second round – Winston Salem Open 2011
World number 102 Steve Darcis of Belgium bounced back after losing the first set to upset eleventh seed Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the second round at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on Tuesday.
The match lasted for an hour and 42 minutes.
Tursunov drew the first blood as he broke the Belgian in the fourth game of the opening set and won his next service game to build a 4-1 lead. The Russian capitalised on the single break of serve and served out the set in the ninth
game, grabbing it 6-3.
The Moscow resident delivered 53 percent of the first serves, hitting a couple of aces but committing the same number of double faults in the first set. The right-handed converted sixteen of the nineteen first serves and eight
of the seventeen second serves into points. Tursunov won seven of the eighteen first return points and converted one of the seven break points he received on Darcis’ serve in the opening set.
Darcis made a solid start in the second set, breaking the Russian in the second game and taking a 3-0 lead. Tursunov held his serve in the fourth game to take the score to 1-3. It was all Darcis show after that as the Belgian sealed
three games in a row, breaking the Russian in the sixth game and claiming the set 6-1.
The Belgian served brilliantly as he fired two aces, bagging nine of the eleven first service points and nine of the thirteen second service points in the second set. The 27-year-old troubled the Russian with his aggressive returns,
winning six of the ten first return points and capitalising on both break point opportunities he created on Tursunov’s serve in the second set.
In the final set, Darcis took the lead straightaway as he broke Tursunov in the opening game and consolidated on it to go ahead 2-0. The Belgian broke his opponent again in the seventh game but failed to serve out the match in
the next game, losing his service game and taking the score at 5-3. However, Darcis did not have to wait for long as he broke Tursunov in the ninth game, clinching the set 6-3.
The Belgian served very well as he smacked four aces and captured twelve of the sixteen first service points in the deciding set.
Darcis is slated to play eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the third round. The Cypriot beat unseeded Ryan Sweeting of USA in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 in the round of 32.
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