Second seed Ivo Karlovic got his title defence off to a strong start on Wednesday at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open as he defeated Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-4 in the second round in Newport. The Croatian was playing his first match in almost two weeks, since a first-round loss to Aljaz Bedene at Wimbledon, and is looking for a return to winning ways at this ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tournament, where he has made the final the past three years. After finishing runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt and Rajeev Ram in third-set tie-breaks in 2014-15, Karlovic made it third time lucky last year as he edged Gilles Muller in a decisive third-set tie-break in the final. The 38-year-old...
David Ferrer maintained his perfect FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Dustin Brown, improving to a 5-0 mark on Wednesday at the SkiStar Swedish Open. In front of Swedish greats, who had come to the beach resort in celebration of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament’s 70th anniversary, the two-time Bastad champion dismissed the German 6-2, 6-3. Ferrer had required three sets to defeat Brown in their quarter-final clash last year in Bastad, but the eighth seed cruised through Wednesday's second-round encounter in 55 minutes as he capitalised on all four of his break points. He is looking to reclaim the title following triumphs in 2007 and '12 (d. Almagro both times). The Spaniard next faces World No. 100 Henri Laaksonen,...
French qualifier Kenny De Schepper won 86 per cent of his first-serve points to upset his seventh-seeded countryman Benoit Paire 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Tuesday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag. The 30-year-old De Schepper will next play Italian Alessandro Giannessi, who beat Aussie wild card Marc Polmans 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4. [ALSO LIKE] #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev took advantage of his good fortune to beat Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-2, 6-4. Rublev, No. 74 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, made the main draw as a lucky loser when sixth seed Borna Coric withdrew because of neck pain. “I'm really happy that I won today because I know that to beat Carlos you have to play really aggressiave, you have to...
Two-time champion David Ferrer successfully transitioned from grass to clay on Tuesday, beating Argentine qualifier Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4 to move into the second round at the SkiStar Swedish Open in Bastad. The eighth-seeded Ferrer, who won the title in 2010 and 2012, is making his 10th appearance in Bastad and improved to 22-7 at the clay-court event. The 35 year old will next meet German Dustin Brown, who defeated Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-3. Two-time finalist (2013, 2016) Fernando Verdasco saved four of five break points to outlast #NextGenATP Swede Elias Ymer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours. “I could have been more aggressive but I really felt I played with all my heart,” Ymer said. “I had a...
#NextGenATP Aussie Akira Santillan made it look easy. Going for his first ATP World Tour win, the 20-year-old right-hander dismissed #NextGenATP American Michael Mmoh 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport. 6 Things To Know About Santillan Santillan won 77 per cent of his first-serve points and broke the 19-year-old Mmoh five times to advance in 53 minutes. The Brisbane resident, fresh off his first ATP Challenger Tour title on Sunday in Winnetka, had been 0-4 in ATP World Tour matches. He will face American Bjorn Fratangelo in the second round. Expect a lot of aces when Aussie Sam Groth meets top seed John Isner in the second round. Groth set-up the clash...
