Home-country favorite Alexander Shevchenko saved four set points in the second set before closing out a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (12) win over Serbia’s Laslo Djere in the first round of the Almaty (Kazakhstan) Open on Tuesday.

Djere had a point to level the match while serving at 5-4 in the second set, but Shevchenko rallied to win the game.

The players’ serves dominated the subsequent tiebreaker, with each player winning 11 of his first 12 service points. Djere squandered three more set points and Shevchenko didn’t take advantage of his first four match points. Djere finally lost another service point to give Shevchenko a 13-12 lead, and the Kazakhstani player sealed the match on the next point.

In the day’s other matches, fifth-seeded Brandon Nakashima defeated Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 7-6 (5),

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