Uzbekistan's No.1 player Denis Istomin has had a splendid run this year from being ranked 120 in October 2008 and reaching the career best ranking of 57 in October 2009. Istomin has also carved out some memorable wins this year. He is just back from a successful European sojourn winning a doubles in Belgium.

In spite of being down with viral fever for the past couple of days, Istomin took on the courts for his fans and did not let them down scoring a three set win over Yuri Schukin .The media team met up with Istomin

Q. The match today looked quite tough from the very beginning?
Istomin: "I'm relieved to have come through. I'm not in my best physical condition and have had fever for the past couple of days. Schukin put me in pressure from the beginning and also won the first set. But I decided not to give up . Also he relaxed in the second set and started making mistakes, I knew it was my chance to come back and I decided to give everything I had.

Q. What about your next round, have you given it a thought?
Istomin : My next opponent Stakhovsky is not an easy opponent we have played some very close matches before . But I hope that I can relax and be fit for tomorrow's match. It will be tough match for me and I have to recover .

Q. You've had a very good year , and have been in the top 100 all season , where you look at self at the end of the year?
Istomin : Yes, I have had good year and have made lots of points, I have been traveling and playing a lot . For the last 3-4 months, I've played some very good and close matches against big players, this has helped me. Also winning a few events on the way has been a bonus. I have to worry about moving into the top 50 this year and maintaining myself there.

Q. What drawbacks have you experienced playing at the high level of tennis ?
Istomin : I have been a main draw player at all the major grand slams , this year and that was the first goal . Now that I'm there I need to get higher and play the ATP Tour events. This year I played many top guys , but I need more experience and big wins at Bigger events , this will help my confidence and will help me to be better player and produce some good results .

Q. You have a lot of fans, and they want you to win every match, do you feel the pressure?
Istomin : Smiles, I'm not under pressure at all , I want to go out and play well and win every match. The event is tough and there are a lot of good players this year. But sure I'm going to give it my best try.

By Sunder Iyer
Tashkent Challenger
Media Team

Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. the 20 year old player from Kiev, Ukraine recorded the biggest upset of the day at the Tashkent Challenger when he outplayed top seeded Lu Yen Hsun in an entertaining match. Dolgopolav was ranked 339 in July this year and moved to 162 in a span of 3 months .He spoke to the media team after his win.

Q. Congratulations on a big win, how do you feel?
Oleksandr : I played well, I'm happy with the game . I liked to play with Lu , because he gave me rhythm for my game . I enjoyed my match.

Q. You played convincingly to upset Lu the title holder and tops seed of the event did you expect to win before the match?
Oleksandr : I saw Lu play a day earlier and knew I had a chance but playing him on hard was difficult . I was not sure of winning, but once I went to the court I was feeling better. I also had six break points at 4-1 in the fisrt set and lost the set, but I thought I should go all out and I had a chance and I just did that.

Q. This is your fifth quarterfinals at Challengers since July, your progress has been rapid ?
Oleksandr : Yes, I have been in and out of the tournaments frequently this year due to my elbow injury. I have been advised an operation, but I would not like to go for it now. I started the year well and then took a break and got back into action since July. I have won three challengers at Trnava(Slovakia),Corno ,Orbetello (Italy) and two semifinals at San Marino and Poznan and now here.

Q. You have won the other events on clay, but a performance on hard is creditable?
Oleksandr: Yes, all my wins were on clay, winning on the hard court is good, this win has given me confidence and I think I can play good on hard courts too. I was making points only on Clay, but now I can start thinking of developing an all court game and making points on Hard courts too.

Q. How do you cope with being on and off on the circuit , it must be difficult to make comebacks?
Oleksandr : I'm young player and have time on my hand , I don't give these things a thought . I only concentrate on my game and not results. My parents are a source of inspiration for me and have helped me a lot when I'm making comebacks . Also I'm a player who enjoys tennis and does not get upset when my opponents play better tennis , all this helps in some way .

Q. Tell us about your future plans?
Oleksandr: I have chance to make it higher here first, then I go to Moscow,St. Petersburg and Astana. If I make enough points to be in the main draw of the Australian Open I'll end the year or the journey continues for me. I hope to play well and get some rest before the beginning of the new season.

Tashkent October 14: 159th ranked Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. Of Ukraine outplayed top seed and the title holder Yen Hsun Lu of Taipei to record the biggest upset of the day, while Russian player Alexandre Kudryavstev out hit seventh seeded Somdev Devvarman of India to enter the quarterfinals of the Men' singles at the $1, 25,000 Tashkent Challenger, an ATP Challenger series event being played at the Olympic tennis Stadium.
In the second round matches played today Dolgopolov won 6-7(3),6-3, 6-3 against Lu in a 1.40 min match, while the hard hitting Russian Kudryavstev scored a 6-3,6-4 win over the seventh seeded Indian Devvarman.
Third seeded and world ranked 90 Marcos Baghdatis kept up his winning ways accounting for Evgeny Kirillov of Russia 6-3,6-3, Russian Andrey Kumantsov ranked 412th scored an creditable 7-6(1),7-6(6) win over the 237th ranked Japanese Ito Tatsuma to make it to the last eight of the event.
In the last of the first round matches played today Lukas Lacko of Slovakia caused another upset as he scored a 7-5,6-4 win over fifth seeded Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.
"I was unlucky to loose the first set after having six breakpoints at 4-1 , but at the end I played pretty god and happy with my game" , said the 20 year old Ukrainian Dolgopolov after the match.
The Dolgopolov - Lu match turned out to be a thriller, saw Lu coming back from 4-1 deficit to level scores and take the first set 7-6(3) in the tiebreak. In the second set Dolgopolov played perfect tennis from the baseline to outplay the top seeded Lu and broke him in the 7th and 9th games to win the second set and level set scores at 1-1.
Dolgopolov's strong service and athleticism dominated the third set, Lu was broken in the 6th game at love which helped the Ukrainian to get a 4-3 lead, he then held the 7th and 9th games to finish off the match in style. Dolgopolov recorded 12 Aces in the match to make it to the sixth quarterfinal at ATP Challengers after coming back from an elbow injury in July this year.
On the adjoining courts 210th ranked Russian player Alexandre Kudryatsev outwit 129th ranked Indian Davis cupper and seventh seed Somdev Devverman 6-3,6-4 in a fast paced match.
"I saw his game and knew I had to hit hard and play aggressive tennis, I made mistakes, but hit more winners than I do normally", said the Russian Kudryastev after the match.
In the first set Kudryastev broke in the fourth game and served consistently to take the set at 6-3, in the second set the Russian hit unbelievable winners on both flanks to break the off colour Indian Davis Cupper in the 7th game to take a 4-3 lead, then he held on his service games in the 8th and the 10th games to wrap up the match.

Singles (2nd Round)
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr.(Ukr) bt S.1 Yen Hsun Lu(Tpe) 6-7(3),6-3,6-3
Alexandre Kudraytsev( Rus) bt S.7 Somdev Devvarman (Ind) 6-3,6-4
S.3 Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) bt Evgeny Kirillov(Rus) 6-3,6-3
Andrey Kumantsov ( Rus) bt Ito Tatsuma (Jpn) 7-6(1),7-6(6)

Singles (First round)
Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Martin Klizan (Svk) 2-0 Retd
Lukas Lacko ( Svk) bt S.5 Teimuraz Gabashvili (Rus) 7-5,6-4
Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) Matwe Middlekoop (Ned) 2-6,6-2,7-5

Doubles (Quarterfinals Round)
Rohan Bopanna (Ind)/ Yen Hsun Lu ( Tpe) Inigo Cervantes -Huegun / Guillermo Plaso ( Esp) 6-3,6-4
Denis Istomin/ Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) bt Michail Elgin / Evgeny Kirillov (Rus) 6-3, 6-0
Jiri Krkoska ( Cze) /LukasLacko(Svk) bt Martin Klizan( Svk)/ Yuri Schukin (Kaz) 7-5,6-7(5),13-11

Issued by Media Team
Tashkent Challenger 2009

Tashkent October 13: Third seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and fourth seed Christophe Rochus of Belgium sailed easily into the second round of the          $1, 25,000 Tashkent Challenger, an ATP Challenger series event being played at the Olympic tennis Stadium.
In the first round matches Baghdatis played solid tennis to score  a 6-3б 6-1 win over  Ukraine’s  Sergei Bubka    , while the fourth seed Rochus had no trouble in disposing off another Ukrainian Ivan Sergeyev  6-2, 6-1  in less than a hour.
In the second round Baghdatis will take on Evgeny Kirillov of Russia who accounted for Uzbek wildcard Vaja Uzakov 6-1, 7-5, while Rochus will play qualifier Andrei Gorban of Maldova who outplayed Michail Elgin of Russia 6-1, 6-4 in his opening match.
“I’m playing good and had a fast match, I like the courts here”, said Rochus after his match.
Russian player Alexandre  Kudryavtsev scored a easy 6-3,6-3 win over Latvian Deniss Pavlovs to make it to the second round, Kudryavtsev will clash with  sixth seeded Somdev Devvarman.
Yuri Schukin of Kazakhstan also had an easy passage scoring a 6-4,6-2  win over Uzbek wild card Murad Inoyatov.
It was also a lucky day for Uzbek lucky loser  Arsen Asanov who replaced  German Benedikt Dorsch , Asanov who lost in the final rounds of the qualifying scored an impressive 6-4,1-6,6-3 win over wild card entrant and country mate Rifat Biktyakov to make it to the second round.

Following are the results ( First Round )

S.4 Christophe Rochus ( Bel) bt Ivan Sergeyev (Ukr) 6-2, 6-1.
Alexandre Kudraytsev( Rus)  bt Deniss Pavlovs(Lat)  6-,6-3
S.3 Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) Sergei Bubka (Ukr) 6-1,6-3
Evgeny Kirillov(Rus)  bt Vaja Uzakov (Uzb)  6-1,7-5
Andrei Gorban (Mda) bt Michail Elgin(Rus)  6-1,6-4
Konstantin Kravchuk (Rus) bt  Sarvar Ikramov ( Uzb) 7-6(3),6-3
Andrey Kumantsov ( Rus)  bt Jiri Krkoska (Cze) 7-6(0),7-5
Arsen Asanov (Uzb) bt Rifat Biktyakov ( Uzb) 6-4,1-6,6-3
Yuri Schukin ( Kaz) bt Murad Inoyatov ( Uzb) 6-4,6-2

Doubles (First Round)

Inigo Cervantes –Huegun / Guillermo Plaso ( Esp) bt Somdev Devvarman / Purav Raja (Ind)  3-6,6-3,10-4
Rohan Bopanna (Ind)/ Yen Hsun Lu ( Tpe)  Deniss Pavlovs(Lat) / Vaja Uzakov (Uzb) 6-4,6-7(3),12-10
Denis Istomin/ Murad Inayatov (Uzb) bt Arsen Asonov (Uzb) / Teimuraz Gabashvili (Rus) 7-6(4),6-3
Michail Elgi/ Evgeny Kirillov ( Rus) w/o Stephen Amritraj (Ind) / Rajeev Ram (USA)