Daniil Glinka qualifies for Roanne ATP Challenger tournament
Estonian tennis player Daniil Glinka is through to the main draw of the Open Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes de Roanne in France, after a grueling match versus Nikolay Vylegzhanin of Russia.
Glinka, 25, who recently broke into the top 300 in the ATP listings and now ranks in 287th place worldwide, beat Neil Oberleitner (Austria) in qualification round one, 6:3, 7:6 (2), setting him up with the meeting with Vylegzhanin, who is 475th in the world.
Glinka took a 2:0 lead, but Vylegzhanin equalized and won the first set 7:5 after breaking at 5:5. The Estonian then broke Vylegzhanin's serve three times to take the second set 6:3. In the third, after being down 3:5, Glinka won three games in a row, and despite Vylegzhanin closing the gap in the tiebreak, Glinka converted his third match point to win 5:7, 6:3, 7:6 (5) and advance to the main draw.
The entire encounter lasted two-and-a-half hours.
Glinka hit eight aces with two double faults, while Vylegzhanin served five aces and made 11 double faults. Glinka won 63 percent of first serve points (Vylegzhanin 67 percent) and 61 percent on second serve (Vylegzhanin 44 percent). Glinka converted six of ten break points, while Vylegzhanin took five of twelve.
Glinka will face 30-year-old Frenchman Calvin Hemery (ATP 210) in the first round proper.
--
Editor: Andrew Whyte
