Sam Querrey and Denis Istomin will battle in the Nottingham championship match on Saturday. Istomin is still in search of his first career ATP title.
Sam Querrey and Denis Istomin will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers when they collide in the AEGON Open final on Saturday.
The head-to-head series stands at 4-2 in favor of Querrey, but they have split their two previous clay-court encounters. Istomin prevailed 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 six years ago in Eastbourne before Querrey got the job done via a 7-6(4), 6-3 decision at the 2012 Queen’s Club event. Their most recent showdown was an absolute thriller, won by the American 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9) two seasons ago on the hard courts of Washington D.C.
Speaking of tense three-setters, both finalists have survived the brink of defeat en route to this Nottingham title match. After cruising past Nicolas Almagro, Juan Monaco, and Sergiy Stakhovsky, Istomin saved one match point to outlast Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-7(8), 7-6(6) on Thursday. He then got a retirement from Marcos Baghdatis just three full games into their semifinal.
Following a first-round bye, Querrey disposed of Santiago Giraldo and Pablo Cuevas then fought off two match points to defeat Gilles Simon 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4 during quarterfinal action. The world No. 44 also endured a tough test on Friday, as he overcame Alexandr Dolgopolov 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Although he is by no means enjoying a dominant year, Querrey has an edge in current form. He is 14-13 on the season and will climb into the world’s top 30 if he triumphs on Saturday. Istomin is toiling down at 92nd in the rankings and he had been a horrendous 6-14 at the ATP level in 2015 prior to this week.
The Uzbek is seeking his first ATP title, having previously lost finals in 250-point events in New Haven (2010) and San Jose (2012). A more experienced Querrey is 7-7 lifetime in ATP finals. Those factors along with a massive serve (78 aces this week) should see Querrey through in two competitive sets.
Pick: Querrey in 2
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Didn’t realise Denis had never won a title. Seems like Sam hasn’t won one in a while. So a good trophy for whoever triumphs
Would love to see Istomin win his first title. He is one of those underrated journeymen who invariably provides enjoyable matches particularly when he is up against more highly ranked players. Querrey on the other hand sends me too sleep.
What the heck.
Istomin in 3
What a cliffhanger!! The first title for the likeable Istomin.
After failing to close the match out on his first match point was so pleased Istomin finally managed to hold his nerve and beat the ventriloquist’s dummy Archie Andrews. In two sets no less.
Fuck istomin and his stupid glasses lol
^^^ Must be a fedfan. Uses same language Federer used when he screamed at Murray at the Australian Open and telling off the chair umpire at the USO. Not very respectful. What would OxC think.
Hilarious!!!
Definitely a disgruntled Federer fan…………he’s given RF a hard time on several occasions particularly in Basel for two consecutive years.
Istomin beat Querrey? Well, that is a surprise. The schedule on the tennis channel this week has been kind of confusing. They are showing a lot of women’s matches. But I am sure that I will get to see a replay or a delayed broadcast of this final. It might be worth a look just to see Istomin get his first title.
NNY: I was watching the French version of the Eurosport Player live stream I think it may be shown on one of the American tennis channels.
For those of you who may wonder about the reference to Archie Andrews this is the answer
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/57308000/jpg/_57308750_archie.jpg
Kinda got the reference but now it’s HILARIOUS!!!
Actually I was wondering about that!
Thanks for the clarification! 🙂
I did get to see a replay of the final. Querrey seemed to be well on his way to winning that second set and taking it to three sets. Istomin couldn’t serve it out and then it went to a tb and Querrey was up 5-1 but ended up losing. Full credit to Istomin for coming up with the shots, but Querrey also kind of lost the plot at the end.
Istomin’s reaction was great to see!