PALEMBANG, August 26, 2018

Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan clinched the gold medal at the 18th Asian Games 2018 in Palembang, Indonesia. The 31-year-old rallied past China’s reigning US Open boys’ champion, 18-year-old Wu Yibing, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in Saturday’s men’s singles final.

“I’m always struggling with the clay and to be in the final – for me, it’s a big, big tournament. I was really happy with this result,” said Istomin.

This means Istomin will be automatically qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo 2020. Next up, however, is a journey of 27 hours to New York, where he will start his US Open campaign against Steve Johnson from the United States.

Bopanna/Sharan take doubles crown

The Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan defeated Aleksandr Bublik and Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan in a 52-minute match of two sets 6-3, 6-4 to win the doubles competition.

“Coming here as a seeded pair, we used it as capital to be consistent and strive to win. However, the key is fighting together as a team,” Bopanna said.