Fans might remember Denis Istomin as the lanky Uzbekistani, clear-lensed glasses propped on his nose, who with superb shot-making and 11 aces quelled a brewing Lleyton Hewitt comeback in 2013 in a fiery 7-5 7-5 second round encounter.
But in some consolation Hewitt wasn’t the only casualty to come off Istomin’s racquet, with the unseeded 27-year-old reaching consecutive quarterfinals in Brisbane over the past two years, backed up by a quarterfinal and semifinal berth at the Apia International in Sydney the following week.
They are the under-the-radar results that are some of his best and most consistent of anywhere in the world. So what’s his secret? His answer is one you wouldn’t expect of a Moscow local: the blistering Brisbane heat.
“If I stay home all the time it’s cold there during the winter, so I come here and I’m really happy to see the sun and the hot so maybe that’s the reason I’m playing good here,” he laughed from the shade of an umbrella at the Suncorp Oasis.
“I love to come back to Brisbane especially and Sydney and Australian Open as well. I love to play here and I love the crowd and the people watching, so it’s really nice to play.”
With a current ranking of No.45, Istomin has been a consistent name around the world’s top 50 since 2010, but with a career high of 33 he’s hoping he can convert another solid Australian summer into a top 20 spot.
“I stayed in Moscow at home for pre-season. It was nice to be home and work a little bit, so I’m looking for a good season now… my goal is to be in the top 20 this year.”
Istomin is facing one of the tournament’s other dark horses in round one, Marin Cilic; the former world No.9 has lulled in the rankings to no.37 this year, missing out on a seeding and looming large in the bottom half of the draw.
Istomin didn’t manage a set off the Croatian during their three matches back in 2009 and 2010 – when Cilic was at his peak – but he’s hoping the Brisbane courts will help him even the score.
“He’s a top player; he’s dropped now but he’s always playing good. I’ve lost three times to him and I’m just looking for a bit of revenge, so I will try to do my best and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
The one thing Istomin hopes for the match is that Brisbane fans can forgive and forget for sending Hewitt packing.
“It wasn’t fans for me, but it’s tennis so someone has to lose.”
Istomin plays Cilic third on Show Court 1 on Monday.
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