Teymuraz Gabashvili won his first round thriller at the Delray Beach ousting John Isner
Unseeded Russian, Teymuraz Gabashvili won his first round match at the Delray Beach International Tennis tournament, after defeating the fourth seeded American, John Isner on Monday night. Gabashvili wrapped up the two hour thirty
minutes thriller at 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(13).
The contest remained evenly poised throughout and both contestants exhibited a magnificent display of quality tennis. Although the match statistics show the superiority of Isner in many segments of the game, yet the Russian proved
far more resilient than his opponent in the game.
Gabashvili had a game plan of his own and kept moving in line with the pace of the contest. His first serve percentage was 62, lower than his rival’s 77 percent, but he compensated for it very skilfully by winning 77 percent of
his service points and 29 percent of the total return points.
The fourth seed had a brilliant first serve percentage (i.e. 77%) and cracked 21 thudding aces to the opponent’s court. the Russian replied with merely 7 aces in the whole match.
Gabashvili had an aggressive start to the competition and started pressurizing the American from the beginning. His game play included frequent forays to the net and angling cross-court strokes. The Russian broke the opponent’s
serve to get in the lead and wrap up the opener at 6-4.
Isner revised his strategy in the second set and played more aggressive tennis. He kept holding his serve, firing an ace every now and then throughout the set. The American exerted pressure upon the 25-year-old Russian, forcing
him to commit some errors. Isner took the set number two after a tough fight at 7-5.
Both contestants stepped in the decider evenly poised, with one set a piece. After an exchange of serve breaks from both men, the third set had to enter a decisive tie breaker. The crowd’s excitement rose to the top level as the
tie breaker was extended to a total of 28 points.
Isner had match points on plenty of times but squander every opportunity. The Russian showed his mental steel to stay focussed and finally clinched the final set at 7-6(13) to advance to the second round of the tournament.
Gabashvili will be squaring off either against Ricardos Berankis or the in-form Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round encounter.
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