Bu, home favourite Kukushkin win in Almaty Open qualifying
Ravi Ubha
The top six qualifying seeds at the Almaty Open all advanced to the final round, paving the way for several exciting matchups on Monday.
Top seed Bu Yunchaokete beat former No. 49 Illya Marchenko 6-3 6-4 after rallying from 3-1 down in the opening set against the Ukrainian.
In the second set, Bu didn’t face a break point.
The current No. 69 now meets sixth seed Dan Evans for a spot in the main draw after the 34-year-old downed Kazakhstan’s 16-year-old wildcard Amir Omarkhanov.
Omarkhanov — a Top 20 junior — won more percentage points behind his first serve than Evans (81% to 79%). But Evans capitalized on Omarkhanov’s second serve.
He tallied 71% of those return points while only dropping two points behind his own second serve. He didn’t face a break point.
Omarkhanov still enjoyed the experience however.
«Playing at home in front of my fans was an honour for me,» he said.
Bu and Evans have never faced off.
While 22-year-old Bu recently reached back-to-back semifinals at home in Hangzhou and Beijing, Evans last won a top tier main draw match at the US Open.
He has battled a knee injury, although it didn’t stop the talented former No. 21 from edging Karen Khachanov in five-and-a-half hours in New York in the US Open’s longest ever outing.
Kazakhstan’s longtime Davis Cup hero, Mikhail Kukushkin, also progressed thanks to a 6-4 6-4 win over Uzbekistan’s Khumoyun Sultanov.
The second seed broke for 3-2 in each set and didn’t look back.
A place in the main draw would maintain Kukushkin’s momentum. The 36-year-old returned to the Top 100 last month after three years away, even dropping to 319 early last year.
Currently at 103, Kukushkin will next meet Alibek Kachmazov.
Kachmazov — who made the semifinals in Chengdu as a qualifier last month — went through when US serve-and-volleyer Maxime Cressy retired in the third set with a back injury (4-6 6-3 2-0, ret.).
Kachmazov, 22, defeated Kukushkin in their lone previous duel in three sets in Helsinki last year.
High ace count for Grand Slam semifinalist
Aslan Karatsev hit nine aces in a 6-2 7-5 victory over Austria’s Filip Misolic. The former Australian Open semifinalist — who sustained a serious knee injury at the start of the year — only dropped serve once.
It came when he attempted to serve out the contest but the fourth seed broke straight back for 6-5, then saved a break point to advance.
Karatsev next challenges the fifth seed from Spain, Alejandro Moro Canas. Canas topped 18-year-old junior No. 1 Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, 6-1 6-3.
The lone seed exiting was Kazakhstan’s Denis Yevseyev. The seventh seed fell to Benjamin Hassan — who represented Lebanon at the Olympics in July — 6-2 6-4.
Hassan only lost six points on serve prior to getting broken as he tried to close out proceedings. The world No. 208 responded in the ensuing game by breaking Yevseyev.
He attempts to upset third seed Yasutaka Uchiyama on Monday.
Japan’s Uchiyama — who upended Holger Rune in Hangzhou and held match points on eventual champion Marin Cilic — beat Turkiye’s Ergi Kirkin 7-6 (2) 6-3.
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