ATP Buenos Aires: Dominic Thiem battles past Pablo Cuevas. Schwartzman wins
The top seed and the two-time Buenos Aires champion Dominic Thiem has scored his 11th consecutive win at this tournament, ousting Pablo Cuevas 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 49 minutes for his first semi-final since Paris last year. This was their fifth meeting and the third win for Dominic who claimed just four points more than the Uruguayan, saving six out of eight break points just like against Maximilian Marterer in the second round and prevailing with three breaks from five opportunities he created. The opening set was fast and fluid and Cuevas played on a very high level, dropping four points in five service games and breaking Thiem in game three with a deep return that the Austrian failed to control.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Pablo blasted four service winners and Dominic had to raise his level on the return in the rest of the encounter if he wanted to get back on the scoreboard. The Roland Garros finalist kicked off the second set with three good holds and a break in game two when Pablo netted a backhand to open a 4-1 lead. Facing four break points in game seven, Thiem repelled four break points before hitting a double fault two games later to lose serve while serving for the set. Still, Thiem remained focused and he closed the set with a break in game ten for a 6-4, building a solid base before the deciding set.
There, we saw eight good holds and a break for Dominic thanks to a return winner in game two, serving well in the rest of the match to bring it home when Pablo sprayed a forehand error at 3-5. The 4th seed Diego Schwartzman will play against Dominic in the semis following a 6-1, 7-5 triumph over Albert Ramos-Vinolas in an hour and 16 minutes. It was a rock solid performance from the Argentinian who defended the second serve in a proper way to face just two break points and give serve away once, converting four out of five break chances to control the scoreboard and advance into the last four.
Schwartzman held at love at the start of the match and he created an instant lead with a break in game two, gathering the momentum and securing another break in game six after a double fault from the Spaniard. A service winner pushed Diego 6-1 up but he had to chase the result in set number two after netting a forehand at 1-2 to give Albert his first lead. That didn't last for long, though, with the Spaniard spraying a backhand error in the next game to lose the advantage, falling 6-5 behind when Schwartzman broke him at love in game 11 with a backhand winner. Serving for the match, a home player saved a break point and he forced an error from the Spaniard to wrap up the win and stay on the title course.
The 3rd seed Marco Cecchinato is in the last four as well after a 7-6, 6-4 win over Roberto Carballes Baena in an hour and 52 minutes, playing against each other for the first time since Italy F7 Futures in 2014! The Italian earned a win with the better performance on the second serve, losing serve twice and securing three breaks from nine chances to prevail in straight sets, winning ten points more than his rival. They traded breaks in games five and six to stay neck and neck until the tie break that Cecchinato won 7-3 after almost 70 minutes.
The second set was decided in the opening games, with the Italian moving 2-1 up after a double fault from the Spaniard, sailing through his games in the rest of the match to cross the finish line with a hold at 30 in game ten. In the encounter that lasted three hours and one minute, Cordoba finalist Guido Pella stayed on the track for another title match following a hard-fought 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 triumph over the young Spaniard Jaume Munar, coming back from a 7-6, 5-3 down and saving four match points to force the decider where he never looked back.
We saw four breaks for each player in sets one and two, both lasting for almost 80 minutes in one of the most grueling clashes since the start of the season before Pella closed the decider in half an hour to prevail and at least reduce a little bit the time he had to spend on the court. Guido served for the opener at 6-5 before Munar made one last push to break back and win the set in the tie break, opening a 5-3 lead in the second set and serving for the triumph at 5-4. He had two match points but Pella repelled them both to break back and prolong the action, losing serve again in game 11 before performing another escape to set up a tie break where he saved match points at 5-6 and 7-8.
Guido grabbed the set with a forehand winner at 10-9 and he had all the momentum on his side, breaking the youngster three times in the third set to join the semi-final field.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2IelQPL
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