Uladzimir Ignatik flogs Dimitar Kutrovsky in 1st round – Knoxville Challenger 2011
Sixth seeded Belarusian Uladzimir Ignatik whipped Belgian qualifier Dimitar Kutrovsky in the first round of the Knoxville Challenger 2011.
Both had battled out with each other on indoor hard courts of the University of Tennessee’s Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. On the 9th of November 2011, it took Ignatik only one hour and twenty one minutes to send Belgian qualifier Kutrovsky to the lockers in straight sets of 6-4, 7-6(6).
The first set of the match was clearly a lopsided victory for the sixth seeded Belarusian and he had an excellent serve as he managed to target 63 percent of his first serves and accomplished a walloping 87 percent of his first service points won.
Moreover, Ignatik has smashed eight aces in the opening set and did not setup a single breakpoint opportunity for his adversary. Instead, he managed to capitalize on a hundred percent of his breakpoints won.
Although, the Belarusian had a weak return, it wasn’t as pitiable as Kutrovsky, who only managed a 17 percent of his total return points.
Nevertheless, commencing the first round of the match after winning the service toss was Kutrovsky and he got off to a good start by bagging his service game to kick open the scoreboard at 1-0. Following in his footsteps was Ignatik, who too held his service game and placed himself beside his adversary at 1-1 on the scoreboard. In subsequent two games, the players held their respective serves and tied the score at two games each.
The challengers matched a blow for a blow, not letting the other to take the lead and the score once more kept balancing out for the following two games and at the end of the eighth game, each player had bagged four games each.
However, in the last two games Ignatik had reeled off straight two games; first by capitalizing on a breakpoint and then with a hold of serve in the tenth game. The sixth seeded Belarusian had managed to go one up in the match by clogging the opening set with a 6-4 victory.
Commencing the second set was again Kutrovsky and once more both the players held their service games. During the following two games the score tied at two games each. As the players matched an eye for an eye, the scored kept tied at three games each and then four games each at the end of the eighth game.
The score progressed on even terms as the players kept bagging their service games and the last time the scores levelled was at six games each at the end of the twelfth game which eventually pushed the set into a tiebreaker.
The toe-to-toe leg moved well into the tiebreaker and the players kept the score tied at 2-2, 4-4 and ultimately at six points each. However, in the last two games, Ignatik broke his adversary to scoop two consecutive games and clinched the tiebreaker at 8-6.
Sixth seed not only bagged the tiebreaker but also the match and reserved a spot in the second round of the event where he will be facing Frenchman Vincent Millot.
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