Denis Istomin in tennis' rare spectacle

One of the biggest shocks in the history of tennis was delivered at the 2017 Australian Open, when a world No. 117 Denis Istomin sent defending and six-time champion Novak Djokovic packing in the second round.

Apart from matching the then vulnerable Djokovic's brutal baseline game for a majority of five sets spread across four hours and 48 minutes, what also stood out was Istomin's green glasses that shone as bright in the Melbourne heat as his on-court game.

The Uzbek, currently ranked 93th in the world, is only one of two players on the ATP Tour that needs to wear prescription glasses, Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic being the other.

Sporting spectacles in a sport like tennis that relies on a combination of vision and reflexes is rare, and only a handful of them have done so over the years — recollect Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova?

More recently, GenNext's Hyeon Chung plays with a pair of glasses, but that's only because he has been suffering from Astigmatism — an imperfection in the eye that results in blurriness — since he was a child.

In the 32-year-old Istomin's case, a dip in vision after the dip in light forced him to wear glasses.       

"If I play without glasses, then maybe I won't be in the top 100, because my vision is not that great," Istomin tells DNA from Pune, where he is due to take part in the ATP Maharashtra Open.

"Glasses help me play during the night, because I had so much problem playing night matches before, especially indoors.

"Since I started wearing them, I got my best ranking in 2012 (No. 33). So, I guess I adjusted to it very well," he adds.

Oakley, a California-based sports equipment company, makes customised glasses for Istomin (as also for Tipsarevic), and the cool green pair with which he stunned Djokovic reportedly cost £299.99.

"I like the style too," Istomin says, before quickly adding, "Of course, without them, I will not see anything."

Spectacles have become such an integral part of his tennis gear that without them, Istomin feels he will no longer be able to play. Many players use contact lenses — Djokovic, for example — and Istomin tried it too, but it was too fussy for him to handle.

"It (lenses) always kept bothering me while I was playing. I had to always maintain it well, apply drops and stuff like that," he says.

"I don't like it because it takes you out of your game. You have to think about your eye. But with glasses, it is easier and I don't have to worry about my eye all the time," he adds.

At your service, mother

Maintaining focus on tennis is the least of Istomin's worries.

Born in 1986 in Orenburg — a city in Russia that was part of the Soviet Union — Istomin's grandfather was an armyman who lived in Tashkent, where Istomin's parents decided to shift soon after their child was born.

Istomin's mother, Klaudiya Istomina, got her son attracted to the game, and has been beside him courtside as coach ever since he turned pro in 2004.

Istomin broke into the top-100 in 2009, achieved his career-high ranking of No. 33 in 2012 and won his first ATP title in 2015.

However, he never really managed to take the next step of winning big matches against big players in the big tournaments. His best Grand Slam result has been a fourth-round entry, and his biggest claim to fame the victory against Djokovic last year.

His mother, though, has stood by him throughout his mostly under-the-radar, injury-hit career.

Ask her son about the pros and cons of having a mother as a full-time coach, and a rather amusing take on the arrangement follows.

"Good thing is that I don't have to pay for the coach. But actually, I pay everything for my mother. So, it's two sides of the coin," Istomin says.

"But I think the problem is that sometimes men want to do something, like, for example, bring a girl into your room. I cannot do that, because my mom's always around.

"But I'm OK. I got married one month ago, so I don't have to think about that anymore," he adds with a laugh.

'Big' Asian Games gold

Istomin begins his new season in Pune with a decent 2018 behind him, in which he won a couple of Challenger level tournaments and made the final of the Generali Open, an ATP 250 claycourt event in Austria.

His most cherished moment, however, came in Palembang, where he won a singles gold for Uzbekistan at the 2018 Asian Games.

"It's a big thing for my country, and also for the sport in my country," Istomin says of his maiden Asiad gold, having won a singles silver in the 2010 Guangzhou edition.

"We have had some big changes in the sport in Uzbekistan, some new players coming in. For them, it's good to see another guy from their country winning the Asian Games. I hope in the future we have more players and more top 100 players, and also a winner of the Asian Games."

Istomin says the country's long-serving president Islom Karimov — who died in office in 2016 after becoming the first president of an independent Uzbekistan in 1991 — was a tennis buff, and it played a part in the growth of the sport there.

"We have a lot of good facilities, so many kids that play. Our previous president liked tennis so much. Even now, our president (Shavkat Mirziyoyev) takes care of us so much, so it's really nice," he says.

Know Istomin

Full name: Denis Istomin
Born: September 7, 1986; Orenburg
Turned pro: 2004
Current singles ranking: 93
Highest singles ranking: 33 (2012)
Playing style: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
Career win-loss: 225-246
Career prize money: $493,370