Ivan Gakhov beat Oleksii Sterniczuk 6-3, 6-2 in Szczecin, breaking three times and never losing serve until the closing stages. He faced just one break point all match and saved it, while Sterniczuk converted none of his four.
Gakhov broke immediately in the opening game of the first set to lead 1-0 and closed it out with another break at 6-3. The pattern repeated after the interval: a break in game two for 2-0, then the set sealed on return at 6-2, with Gakhov stringing together five straight games at his peak.
The serve numbers tell the story: Gakhov won 33 points on serve to Sterniczuk's 25 and held seven of seven service games, despite landing only 46% of first serves. His 65% return-of-second-serve haul (10 of 20) was the decisive edge.