ATP Houston: Sam Querrey edges Janko Tipsarevic. Ruud destroys Granollers
Back in 1996, Christian Ruud won an invitational event at River Oaks and his son Casper is in an excellent position to win an ATP title there 23 years later! The 20-year-old is through to his third ATP semi-final, demolishing Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-0 in 62 minutes for one of the best wins on the Tour in a career so far. Performing well on both the first and second serve, Casper lost 13 points in seven service games and the Spaniard could never follow that pace, dropping 60% of the points behind the initial shot and suffering five breaks from seven chance he gave to the Norwegian.
Ruud saved a break point in the third game of the match with a forehand winner and broke in the following game when Marcel sent a forehand long, opening the lead and increasing it to 5-1 when the Spaniard sprayed another error from the forehand wing. Serving for the set, the youngster held at 30 in game seven with a service winner, playing better and better as the match progressed and dominating even more in set number two. There, Granollers stood no chance and lost all six games, propelling Casper into the semis after three winners from the youngster at 5-0.
Christian Garin is through to the second semi-final of the season, beating a qualifier Henri Laaksonen 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 11 minutes, fending off all three break points in the eighth game of the opening set and scoring four breaks to control the scoreboard all the time. Henri wasted four game points at 2-2, hitting a double fault to hand the break to the Chilean who erased all three break points at 4-3 to extend the lead and clinch the opener with another break in game nine when Laaksonen sent a backhand wide. With the momentum on his side, Garin dropped five points on serve in set number two and he earned a break in game six after a forehand mistake from the Swiss, moving ahead and moving over the finish line with another break in game eight.
A former finalist Sam Querrey prevailed against Janko Tipsarevic 7-6, 7-6 in an hour and 47 minutes in the match with no breaks of serve. There were no deuces or break points in the opening set and Janko had a big chance to claim it in the tie break, leading 6-4 before Querrey claimed the next four points, stealing the opener after a forehand mistake from the Serb in the 14th point. Set number two offered all five break points and the set point for Tipsarevic at 5-4 that he squandered when his forehand landed wide. From 4-4 in the tie break, Sam won the last three points to move over the top and book the place in the semis.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2KAK5IX
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