Uladzimir Ignatik terminates Vincent Millot
in 2nd round – Knoxville Challenger 2011
Sixth seeded Belarusian Uladzimir Ignatik wiped out French Vincent Millot in the second round of the Knoxville Challenger 2011.
On Thursday the 10th of November 2011, the two took up the swords against each other on indoor hard courts of the University of Tennessee’s Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, and after one hour and
twenty six minutes, sixth seeded Belarusian whitewashed the unseeded Frenchman by ousting him in straight sets of 6-3, 7-6(8).
The opening round of the match was initiated by Ignatik and he got off to an amazing start as he not only held his serve but also capitalized on breakpoint in the second game to take a mini lead of 2-0. He further increased his
lead to 3-0 with a hold of serve. It was in the fourth game that Millot tried to make a return by holding his serve.
In the following two games the players once more held their respective serves and even though, Millot had reduced the deficit to 2-4 at the end of the sixth game, he was unable to equalize the score. Nevertheless, in the seventh
game Ignatik held his serve for the last time and was now only a game away from clogging the first set. In the eighth game Millot had double faulted on his second serve and gifted away the opening set to Ignatik, who had gone one up in the match.
The second set was inaugurated by Ignatik and this time both the players managed to bag their respective serves to place themselves at 1-1 on the scoreboard. This time both the players matched a blow for a blow and neither player
wanted the other to take the lead.
The score kept tied at 2-2, 3-3 and then 4-4 at the end of the eighth game. The head-to-head run between the two carried well into the set and each matched an eye for an eye. With a series of hold of serve the two once more tied
the score at 5-5 by the end of the tenth game and finally at six games each during the twelfth game which ultimately pushed the set into a tiebreaker.
The toe-to-toe leg progressed into the tiebreaker and both the players once more kept battling out to level the score at three points each, then at four points each, and finally at eight points each. However, Ignatik capitalized
on a breakpoint and reeled off straight two games to clog the tiebreaker at 10-8.
In doing so Ignatik managed to reserve a spot in the quarterfinal of the event where he will be facing American qualifier Brian Baker.
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