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2/15/11 4:37 AM | Ricky Dimon
Dmitry Tursunov takes out Grigor Dimitrov in a third-set tiebreaker on Monday in Marseille. Tursunov is joined in the second round by Sergiy Stakhovsky, who ousted Illya Marchenko.
Dmitry Tursunov d. (WC) Grigor Dimitrov 6-7(6), 7-5, 7-6(4)
Tursunov held all 18 of his service games but still had to escape the brink of defeat on multiple occasions to outlast Dimitrov in the first round of the Open 13 on Monday. This one was a battle right from the start, as both players served big in the first set and yielded almost no return points en route to a tiebreaker. Tursunov twice led by a mini-break in the decider, but he gave one back with a double-fault and Dimitrov eventually took it eight points to six.
The 129th-ranked Russian soon found himself down a quartet of break points at 3-4 in the second. Tursunov saved all four virtual match points and with momentum in hand, seized the first break of the match at 6-5 to force a third. The final set progressed similarly to the opener, although both men managed a few more return points and Tursunov got one look at--but squandered--a break point. Dimitrov took a 3-1 lead in the decisive 'breaker, but Tursunov quickly took control and dominated it the rest of the way. Tursunov, who advanced after two hours and 40 minutes, awaits either Ivan Ljubicic or Andrey Golubev.
Sergiy Stakhovsky d. Illya Marchenko 6-4, 6-3
Stakhovsky improved to 3-0 lifetime (2-0 at the ATP level) over his fellow Ukrainian with a routine victory that took one hour and 17 minutes on Monday. Marchenko actually got off to a fast start by pocketing the first break of the match, but it was all downhill for him starting at 4-2. Stakhovsky won the last four games of the opening set all with extreme ease; so easily that he won 11 more points in the set than his opponent despite winning only two more games.
With momentum in hand, Stakhovsky raced to a 5-0 lead in the second. The world No. 43 had a chance to serve out the proceedings at 5-1, but Marchenko broke then earned his second straight hold to pull within 5-3. Stakhovsky, though, made no mistake with the match on his racket a second time and he finished it off without any trouble. Next up for Stakhovsky is either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Benoit Paire.
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Although he lost, good for Dimitrov! He's beginning to show he CAN stand toe to toe with players with loads more experience who can whack the ball very hard. Go Gregor, go :)
Stakhovsky seems on an up too.
deuce , 2/15/11 8:59 AM