Talented Shotmaker Denis Istomin Captures 1st ATP Title in Nottingham
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Denis Istomin captured his first ever ATP title in Nottingham, as the Uzbek #1 battled his way through multiple tough matches to win the 250 level grass court title. Istomin won two tiebreaks over American Sam Querrey for a 7-6 7-6 final victory.
Prior to that Denis menaced his way past Nicolas Almagro, Juan Monaco, and Sergiy Stakhovsky without dropping a set. He faced a match point against Leonardo Mayer but prevailed in three sets, and beat Marcos Baghdatis via retirement in the semifinals, as Baghdatis pulled out to rest before Wimbledon.
Querrey got past Santiago Giraldo, and Pablo Cuevas in straights, and then Gilles Simon in three sets saving match point en route. In the semis, he slipped past Alexandr Dolgopolov in 3 sets.
Chris Guccione and Andre Sa won the doubles title over David Marrero and Pablo Cuevas.