Tashkent Challenger, Oct. 12-18

[choupi]

After Beijing Marcos is to play the Tashkent Challenger in Uzbekistan. Let's hope for some good matches there.

Entry list:

Marcos Baghdatis CYP
Karol Beck SVK
Iñigo Cervantes-Huegun ESP
Rik De Voest RSA
Somdev DevVarman IND
Oleksander Dolgopolv Jr. UKR
Benedikt Dorsch GER
Michail Elgin RUS
Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS
Marsel Ilhan
Denis Istomin
Nicolas Kiefer GER
Alexander Kudryavtsev RUS
Lukas Lacko SVK
Harel Levy ISR
Yen-Hsu Lu TPE
Ilya Marchenko UKR
Rajeev Ram USA
Christophe Rochus BEL
Yuri Schukin KAZ
Ivan Sergeyev UKR
Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR

[getta]

Main Draw

Yen-Hsun Lu TPE [1] vs. Rohan Bopanna IND [WC]
Iñigo Cervantes-Huegun ESP vs. Oleksander Dolgopolov Jr. UKR
Deniss Pavlovs LAT vs. Alexandre Kudryavtsev RUS
Somdev Devvarman IND [7] vs. Guillermo Olaso ESP

Marcos Baghdatis CYP [3] vs. Sergei Bubka UKR
Evgeny Kirillov RUS vs. Vaja Uzakov UZB [WC]
Andrey Kumantsov RUS vs. QUALIFIER
Rajeev Ram USA [6] vs. Tatsuma Ito JPN

Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS [5] vs. Lukas Lacko SVK
Benedikt Dorsch GER vs. Rifat Biktyakov UZB [WC]
Michail Elgin RUS vs. QUALIFIER
Christophe Rochus BEL [4] vs. Ivan Sergeyev UKR

Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR [8] vs. Matwé Middelkoop NED
QUALIFIER vs. QUALIFIER
Yuri Schukin KAZ vs. Murad Inoyatov UZB [WC]
Denis Istomin UZB [2] vs. Martin Klizan SVK

===========================================

So, legendary Ukrainian pole vaulter's son is Marcos first-round opponent.

Vamos!

[getta]

Marcos opted to play doubles as well as singles. Seems that he draws a crowd even to doubles play.


Bubka Jr. & Stakhovsky [UKR, 1] vs. Kumantsov & Middelkoop [RUS/NED]
Biktyakov & Ikramov [UZB, WC] vs. Fayziev & Saidmukhamedov [UZB, WC]
Klizan & Schukin [SVK/KAZ] vs. Kravchuk & Kudryavtsev [RUS, 3]
Krkoska & Lacko [CZE/SVK] vs. Dolgopolov Jr. & Sergeyev [UKR]

Inoyatov & Istomin [UZB] vs. Baghdatis & C. Rochus [CYP/BEL]
Elgin & Kirillov [RUS, 4] vs. S. Amritraj & R. Ram [IND/USA]
Cervantes-Huegun & Olaso [ESP] vs. Devvarman & Raja [IND]
Bopanna & Lu [IND/TPE, 2] vs. Pavlovs & Uzakov [LAT/UZB, WC]

[getta]

Tuesday OoP

CENTER COURT

Matches Start at 10:00am
Yuri SCHUKIN (KAZ) vs. Murad INOYATOV (UZB)

followed by
Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP) vs. Sergei BUBKA (UKR)

followed by
Benedikt DORSCH (GER) vs. Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB)


Not Before 3:00pm
Murad INOYATOV (UZB)/ Denis ISTOMIN (UZB) vs. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP)/Christophe Rochus (BEL)


=========================================


I'm expecting a tough match in doubles against the local boys. By the way, Istomin is a likeable player with lots of sportsmanship.

[getta]

Marcos defeated Bubka 6-1 6-3 and will next face Evgeniy Kirillov.

Marcos and C.Rochus withdrew from doubles. That's nice... looks like Marcos is exploring his own learning process... prioritising, getting things done and sorting out some principles and ideas would it be useful...

[getta]

Wednesday OoP

CENTER COURT

Matches Start at 11:00am
Martin KLIZAN (SVK) vs. Denis ISTOMIN (UZB)

followed by
Yen-Hsun LU (TPE) vs. Oleksandr DOLGOPOLOV JR. (UKR)

followed by
Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP) vs. Evgeny KIRILLOV (RUS)

[getta]

Marcos defeated Kirillov 6-3 6-3 and will next face Andrey Kumantsov.

[choupi]

Looks like another good week from Marcos

[getta]

Marcos defeated Kumantsov 6-4 6-2 and will next face Oleksandr Dolgopolov. Underestimate Dolgo and his competitive makeup would be at Marcos own risk. I think that Marcos is going to be in a tough match today.

Vamos!

[getta]

tennis.uz/

Baghdatis,Istomin set up summit clash at Tashkent Challenger

Saturday, 17 October 2009 19:32

Tashkent October 17: Second seeded Denis Istomin will clash third seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the finals of the Men’ singles at the $1, 25,000 Tashkent Challenger, an ATP Challenger series event being played at the Olympic tennis Stadium.In the semi finals played today third seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis stopped the winning run of Ukrainian Oleaksandr Dolgopolov Jr.7-6(7-3),6-4 in a 1hr 34 minute tussle , while Local hero and second seeded Denis Istomin stormed into his first ATP Challenger final of the year cutting short the progress of Slovakian Lukas Lacko 7-5,6-3 in 1 hrs and 16 minutes.

It was a great day for Istomin who teamed up Murad Inoyatov to outplay the pair of Czech player Jiri Krkoska and Slovakian Lukas Lacko 7-6(4), 6-4 to win the doubles crown and put himself in line for a coveted double crown.

Local boy Denis Istomin watched by his ‘Greatest fan’ his grandmother played perfect tennis to stop the winning run of Lukas Lacko to make it to his first final at the ATP Challenger event of the year.

Cheered by a large home crowd, Istomin was broken in the very first game of the match, but the wiry Uzbek broke back in the 4th game to level scores. Lacko looked like regaining his touch from yesterday as he broke Istomin in the 9th game to take 5-4 lead. But Istomin played consistently to break back Lacko in the 10th game and gain in the 12th game to take the first set.

In the second set Istomin served a high 76% first serves giving Lacko only 5 points on his service games. Istomin played a brilliant 8th game to break the Slovak Davis Cupper and then held on his service game in the 9th game to enter the final.

“I’m happy to be in the finals and happy to have gone past the semifinals round finally, I played good tennis and didn’t want to play a long match today” said Istomin after the match.

“I’m feeling good, the courts and balls are fast for me but I’m finding solutions to winning matches in these conditions, which is good for me” said Baghdatis once ranked in the top 10 on the ATP ranking list.

Baghdatis showed tremendous character in saving 3 breakpoints in the second game of the first set, Both Dolgopolov and Baghdatis played entertaining tennis to hold on to their serves which forced a tiebreak . Baghdatis made all use of his experience to outplay the young Ukrainian 7-3 in the tiebreak and pocket the first set.

In the second set Dolgopolov broke Baghdatis in the 3rd game after 5 deuces, but Baghdatis immediately broke his opponent in the 4th game to level scores. Both the players again traded breaks in the 7th and 8th games to level scores at 4-4. Baghdatis served an ace in the 9th game to hold on and take a 5-4 lead.

In the 10th game Dologoplov scored a double fault giving the Cypriot a match point for the fourth time, Baghdatis seized an opportunity and hit a down the line winner to take the set 6-4 and make it to the third Challenger final of the year. Baghdatis served 9aces in the match.

The finals will be played 2pm Tashkent time, with the winner receiving 110 ATP points and $18,000, and the runners up getting 65 ATP points and $10,600.

Denis Istomin won his second consecutive title at the ATP challenger , having won in Belgium last week the Uzbek star teamed up with Davis cup mate Murad Inayatov to outplay the pair of Lacko and Krokoska 7-6(4),6-4 and win the doubles trophy and the Uzbek national dress . The winners received $7750 and 110 ATP points, while runners up had to be content with 45 ATP points and $ 4500.

The prizes were given away at the hands of the deputy Mayor of Tashkent Mr. Nizamiddin Bhaktiyarov and Mr. S Uthrapathy Tournament director.

Following are the results (Semi finals)

S.3 Marcos Baghdatis(Cyp) bt Oleksandr DolgopolovJr.(Ukr) 7-6(3),6-4
S.2 Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Lukas Lacko ( Svk) 7-5,6-3

[getta]

Hope Marcos gets the job done quick, he gotta get out of here and catch his flight to Stockholm.

Vamos!

[choupi]

Allez Marcos!!

[choupi]

Marcos defeated Istomin 6-3 1-6 6-3. 3rd title of the year. Congrats Marcos!!

[getta]

Bravo Marcos!

I'm not much interested in seeing him being able to rack up ranking points. The most important aspect of his victory is that it will boost his confidence... and could possibly provide a basis for him to build on...

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tennis.uz/index.php?lang=en

Baghdatis lifts Tashkent Challenger

Written by UTF
Sunday, 18 October 2009 19:07

Tashkent October 18 : Third seeded Marcos Baghdatis won his third Challenger in the last three months stopping local favourite and second seeded Denis Istomin in the finals of the Men’ singles of the $1, 25,000 Tashkent Challenger, an ATP Challenger series event which concluded here at the Olympic tennis Stadium.

Baghdatis won 6-3,1-6, 6-3 in a 1hour 30 min match.

In the first set Baghdatis broke the lanky Istomin in the 8th game to win the 1st set , in the second set Istomin played attacking tennis t make a come back Breaking Baghdatis in the 2nd , 4th and 6th games and losing his serve in the 5th game to win the set 6-1 and level scores at 1-1. In the third set Baghdatis played with purpose an broke Istomin in the sixth game to race to a 4-2 lead , he then held his serves in the 7th and 9th games to lift the title and dash the hopes o f Istomin.

“ In the first set I played well and I was concentrating, and Denis made mistakes, in the second set Denis played a quick set and I lost concentration, in the third set I played better regained my concentration again and I’m happy I won the match” said the temperamental Baghdatis after the match. I am already getting ready for my next match in Stockholm, tennis is a sport where you shouldn’t relax” he added.

“ In the first set he played very good, in the second I managed to play faster, and Marcos got relaxed, but at the last set I got a bit tired, if I played better I could have won the match” admitted Denis after the match . It is always difficult to play, but at home , but I would have loved to win for my countrymen he added.

The winner received 110 ATP points and $18,000, and the runners up got 65 ATP points and $10,600.

Following are the results (Finals)

S.3 Marcos Baghdatis(Cyp) bt S.2 Denis Istomin (Uzb)6-3,1-6,6-3