Third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares scored a monumental comeback win on Friday at the Citi Open, saving seven match points to advance into the semi-finals over qualifiers James Cerretani and #NextGenATP Aussie Marc Polmans 2-6, 6-3, 19-17. Murray/Soares saved match points at 8/9, 9/10, 10/11, 11/12, 12/13, 14/15 and 16/17. The British-Brazilian pair ultimately made good on their third match point to prevail in one hour and 37 minutes. Next up for them are top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who also fought back from the brink by saving two match points to topple Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 7-5, 4-6, 14-12. Kontinen/Peers erased match points at 9/10 and 11/12. Second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo...
Kei Nishikori has done it the hard way this week at the Citi Open. After an opening-round win over Donald Young that finished at 1:39am, he saved three set points to reach the quarter-finals over Juan Martin del Potro in a match that ended at 2:00am. On Friday night, the second seed continued his penchant for the dramatic this week by saving three match points to defeat wild card and #NextGenATP American Tommy Paul 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-4. "I think he played good tennis and almost had it today. It was a great battle," said Nishikori. "He got a little bit tight trying to close it out in the end and I didn't make any unforced errors on the big points....
Big-serving American Jack Sock powered into his first semi-final in five appearances at the Citi Open with an impressive 7-5, 6-4 win on Friday over third seed Milos Raonic. Sock had fallen in the quarter-finals the past two years in Washington, D.C. but won 80 per cent of first-serve points and twice broke the Canadian to score just his third victory over Raonic in 11 career meetings. Sock dictated with his forehand – one winner was clocked at 119 mph – and rallied strongly after falling behind 1-3 early in the match. “He’s played more big matches than me… but over time I’ve played a lot of big matches and seen that serve and game style a few more times,...
Philipp Kohlschreiber will attempt to lift his second Generali Open trophy on Saturday in his hometown of Kitzbühel. The German will look to add to his 2015 crown against Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the final. Sousa will take a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head lead into the final, but the pair has never met on clay. Kohlschreiber did beat Sousa 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle two months ago. The 33-year-old Kohlschreiber booked his spot in a 17th ATP World Tour title match after he knocked out second-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3 in 90 minutes on Friday afternoon. Kohlschreiber, who broke serve four times, is now 6-2 lifetime against last week’s J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open...
Kei Nishikori has been burning the midnight oil this week at the Citi Open. After an opening-round win over Donald Young that ended after 1:30am, his Thursday match against 13th seed Juan Martin del Potro spilled into Friday. The 2015 champion hit his final ball of the night at 2:00am local time to reach the quarter-finals over the Argentine 6-4, 7-5. "It was a very tight game and we played great tennis in the second set," said Nishikori. "I was dominating my service games and very happy with my tennis today." The Japanese player went into the match trailing del Potro 1-5 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, but was in firm control throughout much of the contest. However, it appeared...
