ATP Estoril: Tiafoe and Sousa win. Tomic, Carreno Busta and Fritz bow out
A former Wimbledon junior champion Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has managed to qualify for the main draw in Estoril and secure the first ATP win, defeating Taylor Fritz 7-6, 6-4 in just an hour and 26 minutes. Fritz played well on clay in the last couple of weels and he fought great in this one as well, firing 11 aces and getting broken twice from three chance offered to his rival. On the other hand, the Spanish youngster served at 70% and had to give serve away only once, dominating in the opening set tie break and moving over the top with a late break at 5-4 in set number two to advance into the last 16.
The defending champion and home favorite Joao Sousa overpowered a qualifier Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in two hours and 13 minutes, taking eight points more than the youngster and saving eight out of 12 break points he faced. Alexei did his best to stay in touch with a more experienced and better-ranked opponent, fighting off six out of 11 break points to remain in contention in the opening two sets before losing ground in the decider. There, he managed to pull the break back in game four before the Portuguese rattled off four straight games to cross the finish line first and race into the second round.
Malek Jaziri needed just under two hours to dismiss Nicolas Jarry who had a great week in Barcelona, trailing 3-1 in the decider before winning five of the remaining six games to cross the finish line first and grab the fifth ATP win of the season. Leonardo Mayer ousted the 5th seed and Monte Carlo finalist Dusan Lajovic 7-6, 6-4 in an hour and 53 minutes, beating the Serb for the third time in as many matches. Landing only 44% of the first serve in, the Argentinian hit seven double faults and played well on serve despite that, facing four break points and handing two breaks to Dusan who offered nine break points.
Leonardo converted three of those to wrap the match up in straight sets and avoid the decider and spending more time on the court. Lajovic saved four set points at 4-5 on serve and he lost the opener after two mini-breaks that Mayer scored, winning all five points on serve in the breaker to clinch it 7-3. They traded four breaks in the first six games of the second set and Mayer earned the crucial one at 4-4, saving a break point in the next game to seal the deal and advance into the second round. Jeremy Chardy defeated the 7th seed and a former champion Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, dominating in sets two and three against the rival who has finally played tennis after a nasty injury in February.
Determined to reach a positive outcome, the Frenchman took charge in sets two and tree, losing just 17 points on serve which Pablo Carreno Busta failed to repeat, suffering four breaks to push Jeremy over the finish line and make his earliest Estoril exit. John Millman needed just 51 minutes to dismiss Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-0, dominating on both serve and return to march towards the next round. Tomic took only ten points on the return and squandered half of the points behind the initial shot, losing last seven games of the encounter to send John through.
Pablo Cuevas and Salvatore Caruso have met for the second time in a few days and a lucky loser from Uruguay delivered a one-sided 6-2, 6-2 triumph in 69 minutes, conceding serve once and taking more than 50% of the return points to control the scoreboard all the time. The 8th seed and last year's finalist Frances Tiafoe ousted Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and 24 minutes, fending off five out of six break points and earning three breaks from 11 chances to seal the deal in straight sets and notch only the ninth win in 2019.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2J3hXfe
No comments