Two-time defending champion Victor Estrella Burgos is one match away from a three-peat at the Ecuador Open, fighting through a tight semi-final against fourth seed Thomaz Bellucci 7-6(4), 7-6(3). Up 5-2 in the opening set, Estrella Burgos squandered two chances to serve for the opener, but he regrouped by racing through the tie-break to grab a commanding lead. Both players traded routine service holds throughout the second set, but the Dominican Republican player raced through the final four points of the match to prevail in two hours and four minutes. The World No. 156 in the Emirates ATP Rankings improves to 14-0 in Quito. He also boosts his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Bellucci to 3-0, with all three wins...
Home favourite Grigor Dimitrov is one match away from a title at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open in Bulgaria. The third seed needed just 64 minutes to dispatch Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 6-3 in their semi-final on Saturday. “Best start of the tournament for me. Kept a solid game. Tried to be as composed as I could... and just use every opportunity that I can,” said Dimitrov. “I'm happy to be at home in the final.” Dimitrov won 89 per cent of his first-serve points and saved all three break points faced. The home favourite is going for his second title of the season. Dimitrov beat Kei Nishikori last month for the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp title. The Bulgarian...
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev will go for two titles at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier after prevailing in singles and doubles semi-finals on Saturday. The #NextGenATP star rallied from a set down to defeat second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4. “I'm very happy to be in the final, first final of the year. Really good start to the year,” said Zverev. “It was a very tough match today as well. I think both of us played really well from the baseline and are very powerful. So hopefully it can be another high-level match tomorrow.” Zverev battled past Tsonga in a physical contest that lasted two hours and 20 minutes. Zverev erased a break point and held to...
Noah Rubin is building on his unforgettable experience playing Roger Federer last month at the Australian Open with a solid run at this week’s $75,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Launceston, Australia. The 20-year-old #NextGenATP player, seeded seventh in Launceston, defeated fourth seed and local favourite Andrew Whittington on Friday to reach the semi-finals. The American credited the hard work he put in during this past off-season in Boca Raton, Florida, with helping him outlast his opponents in tough matches this year. “We were putting in a lot of hours on the court, more than I was used to,” said Rubin. “We mainly worked on getting in better shape and just hitting a lot of balls to get my forehand...
After a frustrating 2016 season, Vasek Pospisil is back to producing the high level of tennis he’s capable of. Competing at this week’s $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in San Francisco, California, the seventh seed battled past #NextGenATP star Reilly Opelka to move into a quarter-final showdown against another American #NextGenATP star in top seed Frances Tiafoe. Pospisil has left the crowd in awe this week with his court coverage and winners from impossible positions. “I haven’t played too many Challengers lately, but the crowd here is great and the stadium court is really nice,” said Pospisil. “It’s a cool atmosphere and the organisation has been fantastic. Coming from ATP World Tour and Masters 1000 events, it still feels very...