Alexander Shevchenko

MTO

Alexander Shevchenko

MTO

medical time-out (right elbow/wrist)

Shevchenko after beating Djere: "It feels incredible. The crowd was on point today — the best crowd in Kazakhstan. Without them, I wouldn’t have done it. They pushed me every second. If I continue to get crowd support like this, anything can happen." --- Shevchenko dug deep to see off Laslo Djere in two tight sets (2:06 hr). The Austrian-born Kazakh had plenty of support from the stands and didn’t disappoint, playing with great intensity throughout. He saved three set points in the second-set tiebreak and repelled some excellent play from the Serb towards the end. Shevchenko took an MTO at the end of the first set for a right elbow complaint, the same area he had treated in Chengdu. Djere didn’t play badly at all. His forehand looked particularly impressive today, producing 17 winners, but he has struggled for wins of late and came up short in both tiebreaks. Commentary: "Shevchenko was clutch. Was Potapova in the stands? Djere didn’t look like a guy on a big losing streak." Shevchenko 24w 38ue; Djere 28w 35ue. Shevchenko 7/6 7/6.