Stakhovsky Saves 2 M.P. To Advance

© Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010Yuki Bhambri claims his first tour-level win.

Seventh seed Sergiy Stakhovsky saved two match points as he battled past American Michael Russell 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 Monday in a gripping first-round encounter at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010, an ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tennis tournament.

The Ukrainian fought back from a 2-6, 0-3 deficit, only to be broken again in the eighth game of the second set. The No. 86-ranked Russell held two match points at 5-3, 40/15, but Stakhovsky hit back to save both and win three straight games. There was yet another twist as Russell levelled in the 12th game to force a tie-break, but Stakhovsky held his nerve at 4-4 to win the final three points and level the match.

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The 24-year-old Stakhovsky then capitalised on two double faults from Russell in the eighth game of the third set and hit two aces as he served out victory, bringing the turbulent encounter to an end after two hours and 46 minutes.

Eighth seed Andrey Golubev made a strong start to his campaign, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu 7-5, 6-2. The Kazakhstani, who won his first ATP World Tour title at Hamburg in July, broke serve in the 11th game as he took the first set, before racing to a 4-0 lead in the second set. He went on to seal victory in 78 minutes.

In other first-round action, there was mixed fortunes for two Colombian players. South African Kevin Anderson worked hard for a 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Alejandro Falla, while Santiago Giraldo fared better, defeating Michal Przysiezny 7-6(8), 6-1.

Indian wild card Yuki Bhambri rounded out the day’s play with a resounding 6-2, 6-0 victory over ATP World Tour debutant, Yew-Ming Si, a Malaysian wild card entrant. The former junior World No. 1, now at No. 532 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, scored his  first victory at ATP World Tour-level. Having trailed 0-2 in the first set, Bhambri reeled off 12 straight games. The 18 year old is based at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

“You always win your first milestones such as getting your first (rankings) point or your first match win at ATP level, so Malaysia is good luck for me,” Bhambri said. “At the start I was nervous and I dropped the first two games but I was glad I could come back and close it out pretty easily in the end.”