World number 255 Alexandre Sidorenko shocked sixth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5 6-2 to progress to the second round at the St.Petersburg Open.
Heading into this match Albert Ramos-Vinolas was the favourite and started in that manor as he broke in the second game to get the early advantage. Nevertheless, Sidorenko would not be intimidated by the Spaniard and broke straight back to get back on serve. Both men would then hold serve until the seventh game, when the 28-year-old Frenchman broke for a 4-3 lead. Closing in on the lead, Sidorenko did display signs of nerves and was broken while serving for the set at 5-4. Regardless of the setback, the Frenchman would not be unnerved by the world number 32 as he once again broke the Spaniard before holding to take the first set 7-5.
The second set wasn’t as evenly contested as Sidorenko would break twice for 2-1 and 4-1 respectively to complete a famous victory 7-5 6-2 in 1 hour and 23 minutes. A milestone win for Sidorenko, while Ramos-Vinolas’s poor run of form continues. The Spaniard, who was seeded sixth in the tournament, has suffered five consecutive first round losses on the tour.
Sidorenko will now play Paolo Lorenzi in round two, who beat German qualifier Mischa Zverev 3-6 7-6 (6) 6-0. The Italian went down a break in the first set at 2-0 and Zverev never looked back as he took the first set 6-3. In the second set Lorenzi started the quicker of the two players breaking for 3-1, but when serving for the set the German wasn’t unfazed and broke for 5-5. Both players then held serve to force a tiebreaker, which saw Lorenzi save match point at 6-5 to take the second set 8-6 on the breaker. Continuing his second set momentum, the world number 35 never looked back as he bageled Zverev in the decider to complete the victory.
Other singles results in Russia saw Dusan Lajovic break four times as he shocked Fernando Verdasco 2-6 6-3 6-2 and Daniil Medvedev eased his way past Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-0.
Tomorrow sees the big seeds in action. Top seed and US Open champion Stan Wawrinka faces Lukas Rosol and fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut will play Ricardas Berankis.
