Top seed Roberto Bautista Agut reached his second consecutive Winston-Salem Open final on Friday, beating German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals. Bautista Agut broke four times and especially took advantage of Struff's second serve, winning 72 per cent (26/36) of those points. The German was playing in his first semi-final since 2014 Metz. “I'm so happy to be in the final again. Today I played a very good match. It's been a great week for me,” Bautista Agut said. The Spaniard fell in last year's title match to countryman Pablo Carreno Busta. He will go for his second title of the season (Chennai, d. Medvedev) and the sixth of his career against first-time finalist Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzogovina,...
Denis Shapovalov is hurtling towards his main draw debut at the US Open, blasting into the final round of qualifying with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Gastao Elias. The atmosphere on Court 11 was electric as the World No. 69 fought back from a break deficit in the second set to claim victory over the Portuguese in just 72 minutes. Fresh off his dream run to the Coupe Rogers semi-finals, the 18-year-old Canadian is looking to further build on his career-high position in the Emirates ATP Rankings at the final Grand Slam of the year. "He started playing more aggressive and went for his shots [in the second set]," Shapovalov told ATPWorldTour.com. "It was a little tough to get back...
Top seed Roberto Bautista Agut kept alive his hopes for return trip to the Winston-Salem Open final on Thursday, holding off #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-6(3). Bautista Agut won 80 per cent of his service points and didn't face a break point in the 89-minute quarter-final. The Spaniard fell in last year's final to countryman Pablo Carreno Busta. “I think it was a great match I played very solid... I played very aggressive,” Bautista Agut said. He will next play German Jan-Lennard Struff, who beat #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric 6-4, 7-6(2). Bautista Agut will be playing in his fifth semi-final of the season (Chennai, Sofia, Munich, Gstaad). He captured the Aircel Chennai Open title, beating #NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev....
Borna Coric led three #NextGenATP players into the quarter-finals of the Winston-Salem Open Wednesday, in the process handing two-time champion John Isner his first defeat at the event. Coric, who on Monday slipped to fourth in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan behind Jared Donaldson, will move back ahead of the American after reaching his first quarter-final since his strong run to the last eight at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, where he took out then-World No. 1 Andy Murray. The 20-year-old Croatian claimed three breaks of serve against 6’ 10” Isner, who also dropped serve three times in his opening win Tuesday over Russian Andrey Kuznetsov. World No. 62 Coric will next meet German Jan-Lennard...
Six Americans advanced to the second round of qualifying at the US Open on Wednesday, with #NextGenATP Michael Mmoh leading the pack. Blasting his forehand and backhand with precision, Mmoh earned a routine 6-3, 6-2 win over Igor Sijsling in 59 minutes. "It definitely feels very special to get through, especially at a home tournament here at the US Open," Mmoh told ATPWorldTour.com. "I didn't know what to expect. A few years ago he was ranked around 50 in the world and beat guys like Tsonga, so I knew he could play. I just had to be on my toes and expect anything that was coming to me." Mmoh enters in strong form after clinching his second ATP Challenger Tour...