Top seed David Goffin fended off four match points – three consecutively – to claim his opener at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad, beating Moldovan Radu Albot 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(7) on Wednesday. Goffin, who reached the Gstaad final in 2015, was down 3/6 in the third-set tie-break but reeled off three consecutive points to get to 6/6. Albot then held another match point at 7/6, but Goffin won the final three points to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Switzerland. The Belgian also saved 14 of 17 break points. He will next meet Dutchman Robin Haase. The sixth-seeded Haase, who finished runner-up in 2013 and 2016, did not face a break point in...
David Ferrer completed first-round action on Wednesday at the German Tennis Championships 2017 by beating Hamburg debutant Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in just over two hours. Eighth seed Ferrer, who reached the 2014 final (l. to L. Mayer), captured his 27th tour-level title and third crown at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Dolgopolov) on Sunday. The 35-year-old Spaniard will now face Argentinean Federico Delbonis in the second round. Elsewhere, Jiri Vesely worked his way past Fernando Verdasco, who experienced his third straight first-round loss in Hamburg, in a 7-6(7), 6-7(0), 6-3 win over two hours and 45 minutes. The pair resumed at the start of the third set after rain postponed the match on Tuesday. Vesely now plays Argentinean...
Malek Jaziri will not forget his opening-round fight-back at the BB&T Atlanta Open in a hurry. The Tunisian saved an astonishing eight match points to deny last year’s semi-finalist, home favourite Reilly Opelka, on Tuesday. Jaziri had defeated the #NextGenATP player in their only prior meeting in Washington last season but it took three tie-breaks. On Tuesday, the 33 year old would again eke out a tie-break against the 6'11" American and what a turning point it proved. Jaziri hung in to fend off four match points on serve at 5-6 in the second set and a further four match points at 6/7, 7/8, 8/9 and 13/14 in the tie-break. He would concede just one game in the final set...
Third seed and #NextGenATP Karen Khachanov, the leading Russian at No. 32 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, recorded his 20th match win of the year at the German Tennis Championships 2017 on Tuesday. In his Hamburg debut, Khachanov prevailed 6-4, 6-3 against German qualifier Rudolf Molleker in 70 minutes. He will next play Aljaz Bedene or lucky loser Jose Hernandez-Fernandez. Lucky loser Leonardo Mayer of Argentina seized his moment, coming back from a set down to defeat top seed and clay-court stalwart Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(4). Mayer, No. 138 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is playing in only his fifth ATP World Tour event of the season but didn't back down from the Spaniard, who reached the quarter-finals of the SkiStar Swedish Open last...
Two-time finalist Robin Haase improved to 13-4 lifetime at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad, hitting six aces and saving both break points to beat Argentine Renzo Olivo 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday. The sixth-seeded Dutchman reached the final in 2013 (l. to Youzhny) and last year (l. to Lopez). He also made the semi-finals in 2014 (l. to Monaco). Haase will meet Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, who struck 14 aces and saved seven of nine break points in a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 win against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Two days ago, the Ukrainian reached his eighth ATP World Tour final (3-5 record) at the SkiStar Swedish Open. [ALSO LIKE] Moldovan Radu Albot grit his teeth to knock out 2013 champion Mikhail Youzhny....
