Photo: Ron C. Angle
Marcos made comfortable progress through the first round of the Tashkent Challenger on Tuesday, defeating Ukrainian Sergei Bubka 6-1, 6-3.
Marcos started the match quickly, breaking his opponent’s serve in the opening game before going on to break serve twice more to seal the first set 6-1.
Bubka put Marcos under pressure early in the second set and, after being denied on two break point opportunities in the opening game, the World No. 278 earned his break through in the third game to lead 2-1.
Marcos immediately restored balance in the set though, levelling at 2-2, before breaking serve once more in the eighth game to open up a 5-3 lead. The third seed then served out victory after 59 minutes.
Marcos was especially impressive on serve in the pair’s first encounter, winning 17 of 18 points behind his first serve and saving three of the four break points he faced.
There was to be no doubles match for Marcos and Christophe Rochus though, as Marcos withdrew citing shoulder pair. An alternate team took their place.
In singles action, Marcos next will face Russian Evgeny Kirillov, who won his first-round match in straight sets on Tuesday. The two will meet for the first time. World No. 327 Kirillov recently won back-to-back Futures titles in Russia, and has posted two semi-final efforts on the ATP Challenger Tour this season.
The match will take place on Wednesday, third on Center Court with play beginning at 11 a.m. local time (GMT +5hrs).
Check out the full order of play here.
Point-by-point live scoring of the match is available here.
Go, Marcos!
