ATP Lyon: Gasquet saves match points. Fritz, Johnson and Humbert advance
Lucky loser Tristan Lamasine has got the second chance to play in the main draw in Lyon when Mikhail Kukushkin retired and used it wisely, defeating the fellow qualifier Jannik Sinner 6-0, 7-6 in an hour and 17 minutes for his second ATP victory. A week after he won the first ATP match at Rome Masters 1000 event, Jannik became the first player born in 2001 to qualify for the main draw at ATP tournament although he couldn't grab another win despite a solid effort in set number two. Lamasine saved four out of five break points and kept the pressure on the young opponent with 44% of the return points won, scoring four breaks but only one after the dominant opening set that lasted around 25 minutes. Sinner was there to fight in the second, opening a 4-2 lead with a break before Tristan pulled it back in game eight, leveling the score at 4-4 and taking the tie break 7-5 to seal the deal in straight sets and move into the last 16.
World no. 262 Steven Diez qualified for the first ATP tournament since Barcelona 2017 and scored the second ATP win when Bernard Tomic retired while trailing 6-4, 4-1 after 69 minutes of play. Serving under 50%, the Aussie lost more than half of the points in his game, fighting well in the opener to score two breaks, only to give away serve three times and retire after five games in set number two, staying on just three ATP wins in 2019. The struggling American Steve Johnson ousted another lucky loser Lloyd Harris 6-2, 7-6 in an hour and 31 minutes, losing serve twice and having the upper hand on the return to advance in straight sets. Steve sailed through the opening set with a double break and opened a 4-1 advantage in the second as well before the young South African started to play better, saving a match point in the tenth game to pull the second break back and set up a tie break that Johnson clinched 7-2 for a much-needed triumph.
The 7th seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert defeated Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 7-5 in swift 68 minutes, giving away only ten points on serve and repelling both break points he faced to mount the pressure on Chardy who couldn't endure it. The first set was in Herbert's bag in 25 minutes after taking the last four games, saving two set points on serve at 4-5 in the second before scoring a break in game 11 and move over the top with a hold in the next game. Ugo Humbert notched the fifth ATP win in 2019, beating Cameron Norrie 6-1, 6-3 in 65 minutes after a solid performance on both serve and return. The young Frenchman got broken twice but his win was never in doubt, achieving six breaks on the other side to control the scoreboard and race into the second round. Taylor Fritz took down a qualifier Jiri Vesely 7-5, 7-6 in an hour and 38 minutes, never facing a break point and losing only 18 points behind the initial shot.
Vesely repelled six out of seven break points and gave his best to stay in touch with Taylor before losing ground in the closing stages of both sets to hit the exit door and send the American through. Playing only the fourth match of the season, Richard Gasquet saved two match points to prevail against Maxime Janvier 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 after grueling two hours and 43 minutes. Gasquet repelled 19 out of 22 break points to stay in contention, defending five set points in the opener before Maxime won it in the tie break. Richard bounced back in the second set with breaks in games six and eight and moved 5-2 in front in the decider. Battling for every point, Janvier managed to erase the deficit and forge a 6-5 lead, serving for the match in the next game. Facing two match points, Gasquet stayed calm and fended off both, sending the set into a tie break that he won 7-2 to escape an early exit and stay in the title chase.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2VDo5gP
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