Turkish No. 1 Marsel Ilhan lost to Jurgen Melzer in the second round of the PTT Bangkok Open 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
As you may remember, Ilhan made his way through the 2009 U.S. Open qualifying and set a record (for first Turk to win a Grand Slam match) by beating Christophe Rochus in the first round; Ilhan then fell to John Isner in straight sets.
We chatted briefly with the 22-year-old Ilhan after that Rochus match, and learned that he was born in Uzbekistan but moved to Turkey at a young age. Ilhan’s already fluent in Russian and his working on his English (our interview was translated through his coach).
More: Two more pics of his match against Melzer after the cut…
(image via Getty)
October 1, 2009 at 10:43 am |
marsel is proud of turkey. I know, he will be at a better place in near future. follow him :)