Six seeds – Pablo Cuevas, Paolo Lorenzi, Gilles Simon, Jan-Lennard Struff, Jiri Vesely and Horacio Zeballos – were all beaten on a dramatic Wednesday at the Generali Open. Austrian wild card and World No. 157 Sebastian Ofner kept his nerve in a rain-interrupted 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3) victory over top seed Pablo Cuevas – making his tournament debut – in two hours. The second-round match was suspended due to rain with Ofner serving at 2-5, 15/30 in the second set. "I'm happy that I stayed focused during the tie-break [and] I played well," said #NextGenATP's Ofner. "For sure, the experience in Wimbledon helped me today. It's a great feeling to be in the quarters and of course it's very special to...
There were plenty of keenly contested first-round encounters on Tuesday at the Generali Open, in the medieval ski resort town of Kitzbühel. Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo extended his perfect record to 4-0 against 2011 and 2012 titlist Robin Haase mid-afternoon in a 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4 win over two hours and 13 minutes. Fifth seed Haase hit 19 aces, but, having managed to save two set points at 5-6 in the first set, could not convert his lone opportunity at 6/5 in the tie-break. Giraldo now challenges Austrian wild card and last year’s semi-finalist Gerald Melzer, who advanced with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina. German and Kitzbühel resident Philipp Kohlschreiber, who captured the 2015 title (d....
Tommy Haas and wife Sara Foster kicked off the German's last appearance in Kitzbühel in traditional Austrian style, donning Tyrolean outfits in front of Wilder Kaiser on Monday ahead of the Generali Open. “I’m happy to be back in Kitzbühel. This is the paradise of the Alps," said Haas. "I always enjoy coming back here. I’m looking forward to my last tournament here and hope that I can play well.” Thomaz Bellucci, a winner of four ATP World Tour clay-court titles, held his nerve in a thrilling 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov, who was making his debut in Kitzbühel. Dolgopolov led 3-2 in the deciding set, but could not convert two break points on Bellucci’s serve at 15/40....
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN WASHINGTON 1) The Champs Are Here: The last four Citi Open champions return to the nation’s capital this week in search of another ATP World Tour 500 title: Juan Martin del Potro (2008-09, 2013), Milos Raonic (2014), Kei Nishikori (2015) and Gael Monfils (2016). All four men can claim that they are defending champions because none have played in Washington since winning the Citi Open title. 14 Straight Wins: Del Potro is 14-1 at the Citi Open with his only loss coming as an 18-year-old in 2007 (l. to Wayne Odesnik). The three-time champion is on a 14-match win streak at the tournament, but just 14-8 with no finals this season. Del Potro is 0-6...
