TASHKENT, October 13, 2015
25 year old Jan Satral of Czech Republic created the first upset of the Tashkent Challenger knocking out fifth seeded and world no 106 ranked Radu Albot of Moldavia, even as top seeded local star Denis Istomin guided other seeds into the second round of the $125000 ATP Challenger being played an the Olympic Tennis School .
In the first round Satral ranked 251 currently hammered 11 aces on a way to 4-6, 6-4,6-1 win over the 106 ranked fifth seeded Radu Albot in 1 hr and 44 mins .
“I’m happy to win I was a little bit down , this win was important to me as it will help to boost my confidence, I have not had good wins in the last few months, but surely this will do a lot of good to me. I have seen Radu Albot play in many tournaments and know that he loves to play from the baseline , I decided to serve well the surface is fast and was better for me , I tried to play short points , I also took risk on many points and my gamble played off”, said an elated Santral after the match.
Denis Istomin (photo: Tashkent Challenger)
In a battle of former winners here top seeded and local favorite Denis Istomin edged out Belarusian Uladzimir Ignatik 7-6(5),6-4 in 1hr 25 mins. Second seeded Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis took just 52 minutes to end the run of German qualifier Kevin Krawietz winning 6-4, 6-0.
“It’s always difficult to play the first match at the tournament, especially with such an tough opponent, Ignatik played equally well, but I was lucky and my serve was good, I had a lot of aces, “ said the top seeded Istomin who served 14 aces today
Defending champion and third seed here Slovakian Lukas Lacko scraped past Croatian Franko Skugor, winning 6-4,3-6,6-1 in 1hr 35 mins, another former winner and sixth seed here Dudi Sela of Israel faced some anxious moments before overcoming qualifier Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 6-2,7-6(3) in 1hr and 33 mins.
Local boy and wildcard Sanjar Fayziev brought cheers to the local crowds becoming the third Uzbek player to move into the round of sixteen after Istomin and Dustov. The talented Uzbek junior took 1hr 33 mins to register a 6-4,7-5 win over Estonian qualifier Vladimir Ivanov .
Uzbek top junior Djurabek Karimov who was awarded a wildcard, found a seasoned Amir Weintraub too experienced for him. Weintraub took just over an hour to score a 6-3,6-4 win over Karimov . Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev tamed another wildcard and local junior Temur Ismailov 6-4,6-2 to make it to the round of sixteen.
Results First Round singles.
[1]Denis Istomin (UZB) b Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR) 7-6(5),6-4
Maximillian Marterer (GER) b Ti Chen (TPE) 6/4,6/4
Amir Weintraub (ISR) b [WC]Djurabek Karimov (UZB) 6/3,6/4
[WC] Sanjar Fayziev (UZB) b [Q] Vladimir Ivanov 6/4,7/5
Jan Satral (CZE) b[5] Radu Albot (MDA) 4/6,6/4,6/1
Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS) b Denys Molchanov (UKR) 6/4,7/6(6)
[3] Lukas Lacko (SVK) Franko Skugor (CRO) 6/4,3/6,6/1
[6]Dudi Sela (ISR)b [Q] Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 6/2,7/6(3)
Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS) b [WC] Temur Ismailov (UZB)6/4,6/2
Egor Gerasimov(BLR) b Aslan Karatsev (RUS) 6/1,6/3
Ricardas Berankis [2] (LTU)b [Q] Kevin Krawietz(GER) 6/4 6/0
Doubles First round :
Andre Begemann (GER) /Artem Sitak (NZL) [1] bt [WC] Temur Ismailov/ Shonigmatjon Shofayziev (UZB)7/5 6/1
Radu Albot (MDA) Ricardas Berankis (LTU) bt Adil Shamasdin(Can) / Divij Sharan (Ind)[4] 6-2,6-4
Aldin Setkic (BIH) Jurgen Zopp(EST) bt [WC] Farrukh Dustov (UZB) / John Paul Fruttero (USA) 6-3,6-4
Sergey Betov (BLR) Mikhail Elgin (RUS) [2] b Jan Satral (CZE) Anton Zaitcev (RUS) 6-4,6-4
