South Korean Hyeon Chung set up a second-round meeting against fourth-seed American John Isner at the ASB Classic on Tuesday. The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion saved nine of 12 break points, winning five of the first six games in the deciding set of his 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory over American lucky loser Tennys Sandgren. Sixth seed Pablo Cuevas started his 2018 season with a routine 6-3, 6-2 win against Japan's Taro Daniel in Auckland. Cuevas broke four times and won 81 per cent of his first-serve points to coast in 77 minutes. The 32-year-old will next meet Russian Karen Khachanov. View Wednesday Schedule: Sock, Del Potro, Querrey & Isner Open Campaigns American Steve Johnson, who reached the semi-finals...
One of the stories of the Australian summer is continuing this week at the Sydney International. Alex de Minaur, the 18-year-old Aussie who reached the semi-finals of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp last week (l. to Harrison), collected another win on Tuesday at the Sydney International. [ALSO LIKE] The #NextGenATP Aussie, who's from Sydney, saved six of seven break points and knocked out Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-2 in 76 minutes. De Minaur, who is receiving guidance from Lleyton Hewitt, will next meet seventh seed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “It's definitely helping me out every day I'm out here on court and competing,” said de Minaur. “It's a huge boost in confidence, playing against high-level opponents...
Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev won 33 of his 36 first-service points and struck eight aces to overcome sixth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-3 in 69 minutes on Monday at the Sydney International. He will next face American Jared Donaldson or France’s Gilles Simon, who captured the Tata Open Maharashtra – his 13th ATP World Tour title. Fifth-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino fought hard to beat Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 20 minutes for a second-round meeting with Lithuanian lucky loser Ricardas Berankis, who beat Australian wild card Alex Bolt 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. Bolt struck 21 aces in the one-hour and 57-minute encounter. John Millman was strong on serve in beating fellow Autralian and 18-year-old qualifier...
David Ferrer opened his bid for an unprecedented fifth title at the ASB Classic, battling past Chinese teen Wu Yibing 7-6(7), 6-4 on Monday. The Spanish veteran prevailed after a gritty encounter, opening his 2018 ATP World Tour campaign with his 718th match victory. Ferrer is looking to carry the momentum from a strong second half of 2017, as he eyes another successful week at one of his favourite tournaments. He lifted the Auckland trophy in 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Victory over the Chinese #NextGenATP star wasn't as straightforward as the 35-year-old had hoped. Yibing saved nine of 12 break points faced and secured a critical break of his own when Ferrer served for the match at 5-3 in...
Jordan Thompson made good use of a wild card at the 2017 Sydney International, winning his first-round match before falling in a battle against the fifth seed. Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi had no intention of letting the home favourite advance to the second round this year. The 36-year-old defeated Thompson 7-6(5), 6-4 to set up a second-round match against top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The World No. 43 was broken in his first service game and faced a break point in his second, but steadied the ship from there. After claiming an intense first-set tie-break, the right-hander sprinted to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Despite failing to serve out the match at 5-3, Lorenzi broke his opponent a third...
