Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin scooped Asian Games tennis gold in Indonesia on Saturday before jumping on a flight round the world to compete in the US Open. Istomin, 31, came from behind to beat China's reigning US Open boys' champion, 18-year-old Wu Yibing, on a tie-break, winning 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in Palembang.
But there will be no time to celebrate for Istomin, who only just managed to squeeze in his victory at the regional Olympics before the US Open in New York. Istomin had a flight booked Saturday afternoon to the the States via Jakarta and Istanbul, a gruelling journey of some 27 hours. There he will have scant opportunity to recover before his first-round match against America's Steve Johnson at 11:00am New York time (1500 GMT) on Monday. But Istomin said there was no question of missing the Games, a rare chance to win a gold medal for his country - and automatic qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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