Mikhail Kukushkin beat Fabio Fognini 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-0 to reach the second round at Roland Garros setting up a match against Pedro Martinez.
After a long rain delay Kukushkin got an early break. Fognini saved two break points in the third game and held his serve after four deuces. The Italian player broke back at love in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Kukushkin converted his third break point chance in the 11th game to win the opening set 7-5.
The second set started with two very long games, in which they held their serve. There were three consecutive breaks between the sixth and eighth games: Fognini earned the first break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Kukushkin broke straight back in the seventh game, but Fognini converted his fourth break point in the eeighth game at deuce to take a 5-3 lead and served out the set at love.
Fognini earned an early break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Kukushkin broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Fognini was hindered by a physical problem at the start of the tie-break of the third set. Kukushkin cruised through to a 7-1 win in the tie-break. The Kazakh player won 24 of his 30 points and broke three times to win the fourth set 6-0.
Fognini, who reached the quarter final at Roland Garros in 2011, underwent ankle surgery last spring and has lost three of his four matches since the resumption of the ATP Tour. He lost to Marc Andrea Huesler in the first round in Kitzbuhel and to Ugo Humbert in Rome. He won his only match against Phillip Kohlschreiber in Hamburg before losing to Casper Ruud in the second round.
Kukushkin reaches the third round at the US Open earlier this year, but he did not get through to the qualifying round in Rome, where he lost to eventual quarter finalist Dominik Koepfer. The Kazakh player has reached the second round at Roland Garros for the fifth time in his career.
