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 New Haven, Conn. : Sergiy Stakhovsky came from a set down against Denis Istomin to clinch his fourth ATP Tour title at the Pilot Pen Tennis event in New Haven. Stakhovsky, who had never played Istomin before, struggled to come to terms with his Ukrainian opponent in the first set, losing his serve early. However, the ninth seed grew into the contest and eventually claimed a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory for the $93,630 cheque.
Istomin was bidding to become the first player from Uzbekistan to win a Tour title, and he raced into a one-set lead inside 33 minutes. Stakhovsky could not create a single break point as the 15th seed assumed control.
However, Stakhovsky responded in the perfect manner by breaking right at the start of the second set for a 2-0 advantage, and once his serve clicked into gear he had little problems serving out for 1-1.
The decisive set followed a similar pattern with Istomin this time losing his serve to fall 2-3 behind, and Stakhovsky wrapped things up in style with an overhead winner. |
