In the second round of the singles matches played today unseeded Slovakian Lucas Lacko stopped the lucky run of Uzbek lucky looser Arsen Asanov 6-0,6-1 , while fourth seeded Belgian Christophe Rochus scored a easy 7-6(3),6-3 win over qualifier Andrei Gorban of Moldova .
Ukrainian eighth seed Sergiy Stakhovsky outplayed Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk 6-1, 6-4 , while second seeded Uzbek Denis Istomin fought off high fever and Kazakhstan’s Yuri Schukin 3-6,6-1,6-3 to make it to the last eight.
"I’m relieved to have come through this match , I have been suffering from viral fever for the last couple of days , but I came out to play for my fans and gave whatever I had" said Istomin after his win
In the first set Schukin started strongly breaking Istomin in the 3rd game and then held on to his serve to win the set 6-3.
Istomin seemed to have got back his bearings after a medical break, while Schukin seemed to relax a bit in the second set, Istomin lifted his game to break the Kazakh player in the 4th and 6th games and win the set rather easily 6-1 and force the third set.
In the third set Istomin broke Schukin in the very first game to gain the vital lead , he held on to his service games and once again secured a final break in the 9th game and win the set 6-3 after a1 hr.31 minute tussle
In the quarterfinals tomorrow Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. will take on Alexandre Kudryavtsev, Marcos Baghdatis will take on Andrey Kumantsov in the top half. In the bottom half Istomin will take on Stakhovsky, while Lukas Lacko will take on Christophe Rochus
Following are the results (Second Round Singles)
Lukas Lacko ( Svk) Arsen Asanov (Uzb) 6/0,6/1
S.4 Christophe Rochus ( Bel) Andrei Gorban (Mda) 7/6(3) 6/3
S.8 Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) Konstantin Kravchuk (Rus) 6/1 6/4
S.2 Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Yuri Schukin ( Kaz) 3/6 6/1 6/3
Doubles (Quarterfinals Round)
Rifat Biktyakov / Sarvar Ikramov( Uzb) bt S.1 Sergei Bubka / Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) 6/4 6/4
( Semifinals)
Rohan Bopanna (Ind)/ Yen Hsun Lu ( Tpe) Denis Istomin/ Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) 3/6 6/1 10-5