Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas came out on top in an all-Spanish battle on Friday against qualifier Roberto Carballes Baena, prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to move into the semi-finals of the Ecuador Open in Quito. Little separated the two players for most of the match, but Ramos-Vinolas relied on his outstanding stamina to power through the final four games and advance in two hours and 54 minutes. He has now matched his semi-final result from last year in Quito (l. Estrella Burgos). Next up for Ramos-Vinolas is third seed Paolo Lorenzi, who continued his outstanding form by cruising past Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-4 and matching his semi-final result from last year in Quito. The Italian, who has yet to drop serve...
Fans at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier will have plenty of local players to cheer on this weekend after second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, third seed Richard Gasquet and Benoit Paire all won their quarter-final matches on Friday. Two-time defending champion Gasquet fought off a mid-match surge from qualifier and fellow Frenchman Kenny De Schepper to advance 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. The third seed was unable to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, but grabbed the critical break of serve at 4-4 in the deciding set and held in the next game to prevail in two hours and 16 minutes. Gasquet is now on a nine-match winning streak in Montpellier and improves his record here to...
Jim Courier was bouncing the ball ahead of his fourth match point, his ever-present white-brimmed cap was pulled low and tight over his brow. A strong serve down the line gave Courier the initiative to attack the net and the resulting backhand volley landed out of the reach of Derrick Rostagno to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 semi-final victory. At that very moment, on 8 February 1992, in the illuminated downtown auditorium in San Francisco, the 21-year-old American was assured of becoming the 10th player in Emirates ATP Rankings history (since 1973) to reach the summit of men’s professional tennis. He dropped to his knees and raised his hands to the sky. It wasn’t immediately obvious growing up that Courier...
Ivo Karlovic approaches the practice desk at the Ecuador Open, writes his name with a blue pen on the sheet to book a court from 11.30-1.30, and specifies that he is looking for a practice partner. He goes back to the hotel to sleep. Maybe when he returns to the Club Jacarandá, someone will have signed up to be his practice partner, so he can play some points. But when he gets back and checks the sheet, no one has written their name down next to his. In other columns he reads: Bellucci + Monteiro, Estrella + Zampieri, Cerratani + Oswald. All the practice courts at 11.30 have at least two players booked in. All except for the court of...
Home favourite Grigor Dimitrov delighted the Bulgarian fans as he reached the semi-finals of the Garanti Koza Sofia Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over last year’s runner-up, Viktor Troicki, on Friday. “I was feeling the ball a little bit better, serving well and returning great, so all of those things helped me out there against Viktor,” said Dimitrov. “It’s the first time for me to be in the semi-finals here, so it’s hard not to be excited. It’s been a long time since I’ve played in front of a home crowd and they’ve been crazy all week, so I’m just trying to take it in and enjoy every moment." The Haskovo native is contesting an ATP World Tour event...