Fifth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov continued his return to form Tuesday, dropping just six points on serve en route to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Lloyd Harris at the Shenzhen Open. Dolgopolov, who is nearing the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings once again after falling to No. 89 in May — his lowest ranking since 2010 — did not face a break point in dispatching his South African opponent in 63 minutes. The Ukrainian dropped just one point in his first three service games to sprint to a 4-1 lead and would never look back. Dolgopolov hit 11 aces to help secure the victory and a matchup with compatriot Sergiy Stakhovsky, who defeated Nicolas Kicker in straight sets. Henri...
Sixth-seeded Briton Kyle Edmund struck nine aces and lost just two of his first-service points to beat Australian Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-2 in 62 minutes on Tuesday at the Chengdu Open. Tomic has played just once (US Open) since a Wimbledon first-round exit on 4 July. Edmund will now challenge #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson in the second round. Serbian Dusan Lajovic set up a second-round encounter against second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas after he beat another Spaniard, qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, 6-3, 7-6(3) in 75 minutes. Elsewhere, Yen-Hsun Lu, a winner of a record 29 ATP Challenger Tour titles, defeated Swede Mikael Ymer 6-2, 6-3 and now plays fourth seed and this season’s Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag champion Andrey Rublev of...
Jeremy Chardy saved two set points in the opening set on Monday before eliminating Italian Alessandro Giannessi, 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour, 53 minutes at the Shenzhen Open. The Frenchman will attempt to reach his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season against the winner of fifth-seeded Donald Young and the youngest player in the draw, #NextGenATP 17-year-old Nicola Kuhn. ATP World Tour veteran Steve Darcis ended the hometown hopes of Ze Zhang 7-5, 7-6(3). The 27-year-old Zhang, who captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title earlier this year in San Francisco, broke the Belgian immediately and earned four more break points in Darcis’ second service game. From 1-4 down, World No. 77 won six of the next seven...
American Jared Donaldson fought hard on Monday, weathering a late comeback from fellow #NextGenATP and Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Chengdu Open for a 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-5 victory over two hours and 25 minutes. World No. 58 Donaldson, now 19-17 on the year, led 5-2 in the deciding set, before losing 10 of the next 13 points to ensure a tense end to the pair’s first meeting. Tsitsipas, 19, dropped to 0-7 lifetime in tour-level matches, while Donaldson will next face sixth-seeded Briton Kyle Edmund or Bernard Tomic of Australia. “I think the entire match was very close and Stefanos played a great match,” said Donaldson. “Obviously, at 5-2 in the third set I didn’t play a great service...
One week ago, Peter Gojowczyk was not in the main draw of the Moselle Open. On Sunday, he became the last man standing, claiming his maiden ATP World Tour title in emphatic fashion. Gojowczyk dominated the Metz final, streaking past seventh seed and home hope Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2 in 67 minutes. The German qualifier claimed seven matches in eight days to lift his first trophy, completing a stunning run to the title with 14 of 15 sets won. Gojowczyk's victory is the first for a qualifier in an ATP World Tour final this year, ending an 0-5 skid. He is the first to clinch a title since Nicolas Mahut in 's-Hertogenbosch in 2015. The 28 year old is also...
