ATP Rotterdam: Tsonga and Medvedev can't stop winning. Nishikori march on
Kei Nishikori had to wait for almost three years to lift the ATP title and it came in Brisbane in the opening week of the season, giving him a huge boost that has carried him towards a 10-1 start of the season! The Japanese is through to the last eight in Rotterdam following a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over a lucky loser Ernests Gulbis in an hour and 14 minutes. This was the third meeting between the two and Kei had the upper hand all the time, losing 13 points in nine service games and having to give the serve away only once. On the other side, Gulbis was nowhere near those numbers and he dropped half of the points in his games, failing to win any of the opening 14 points of the match and suffering four breaks from six chances he gave to Nishikori.
The Japanese held at love in the inaugural game broke Ernests in game two with a deep return, still winning all the points after another great hold a few minutes later. Gulbis' shots were all over the place and he found himself 4-0 down, missing another backhand in game seven to hand the opener to his rival after 24 minutes. Ernests sprayed a forehand error at the start of the second set to drop serve before pulling the break back at 2-3 with a back-to-back backhand down the line winners that extended his chances. Still, Nishikori fund the way to break him again in game nine and seal the deal in the following game when Gulbis sent a backhand long to march into the last eight.
The Hungarian Marton Fucsovics secured the eighth win of the season so far after a quick 7-6, 6-1 win against the 9th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in an hour and 19 minutes. Marton had to wait against only one break back point that almost cost him the opening set, scoring a comeback to dominate in the rest of the encounter and join Kei in the quarters. The Georgian served at only 46% and he lost the ground after squandering that lead in the opener, fading away from the court and spraying too many errors to end his run in the second round.
Basilashvili broke in the fifth game to produce the lead, serving for the set at 5-4 when he started to miss a lot, losing serve at 15 and the tie break 7-1 after a beautiful forehand down the line winner from Marton. The Hungarian never looked back, scoring three breaks in set number two and booking the place in the quarters after another poor forehand from Nikoloz in game seven. After winning Montpellier, a former champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is on the title course in Rotterdam as well thanks to a 7-6, 6-1 win over Tallon Griekspoor who took down Karen Khachanov in the opening round.
The Dutchman fought well in the opening set today as well but he had to lay down the weapons after an hour and 16 minutes, winning just 13 points on the return and never creating a break point. Jo couldn't find the way to break the rival in the opening set as well but he prevailed 7-5 in the tie break to gain the momentum and storm over Tallon in set number two. Griekspoor fended off two set points at 5-6 with forehand winners and he hit a great volley winner to reduce the deficit to 6-5 in the tie break before Tsonga closed the set with a service winner in the 12th point.
That was all we saw from the Dutchman who managed to win just eight points in set number two, losing serve three times in a row to send Tsonga over the finish line. The Frenchman crossed the finish line with a return winner in game seven that earned the seventh straight win for him, making another big step on his comeback trail and looking dangerous ahead of the rest of the season, especially indoors. Just like Tsonga, Daniil Medvedev arrived in Rotterdam with a title in Sofia last week and he wants another one here, toppling Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 7-5 in an hour and 33 minutes for the 13th triumph in 15 matches in 2019!
Daniil lost serve only once and he had to wait for a chance on the return in set number two after a dominant performance in the opener, breaking Fernando with a backhand winner at 5-5 and clinching the victory with a volley winner in the next game to reach the quarter-final where he will face Tsonga.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2DEpInJ
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