Egyptian qualifier Mohamed Safwat saved five match points in the Antalya Open first round against Cem Ilkel, beating the home hope 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) on Monday. A second-round clash against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino awaits the 26-year-old Turkish player. Top seed Dominic Thiem will open his campaign in Antalya against Ramkumar Ramanathan in the second round after the Indian qualifier defeated Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 6-4. Second seed Paolo Lorenzi will face Radu Albot in his opener. The Moldovan beat Joao Sousa 7-6(2), 6-2. Carlos Berlocq scored an upset win over No. 6 seed Viktor Troicki. The Argentine saved 11 of the 15 break points he faced to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Marcos Baghdatis, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Nikoloz Basilashvili,...
Last year’s Wimbledon fairytale story Marcus Willis moved closer to another round of heroics on Monday, advancing into the second round of qualifying on along with eight #NextGenATP players. The Brit took time off from his tennis coaching job last year to play Wimbledon pre-qualifying and earned a wild card into the qualifying draw. He then qualified for the main draw and won his first-round match before falling to Roger Federer on Centre Court. This year in Roehampton, Willis produced more memorable moments with a qualifying wild card by scoring a 7-5, 7-5 win over 31st seed Andrej Martin of Slovakia. Next up for him is a fellow British wild card in Liam Broady. In an all-#NextGenATP battle, Elias Ymer...
American Donald Young advanced with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over local hope Kyle Edmund on Monday at the Aegon International to set a second-round clash with compatriot Jared Donaldson. The #NextGenATP player saved one match point at 4-5, 30/40 in the deciding set of a 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 victory over eighth seed Diego Schwartzman in two hours and 47 minutes. Former World No. 10 Kevin Anderson struck 11 aces and won 24 of his 26 first-service points to beat Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-1 for a second-round match against seventh seed Richard Gasquet or #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe. Top seed Novak Djokovic will open his Eastbourne campaign against qualifier Vasek Pospisil, who reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-4...
Third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares doubled their fun on Sunday at the Aegon Championships, winning their semi-final and the championship matches on the same day to take their second consecutive ATP World Tour doubles title on grass. “If you see the board that's down in the lounge, it's all the great players that have won the doubles here. All the best teams, the best doubles players. They get an amazing field every year and this year was no different,” said Murray. “I used to watch this tournament growing up all the time. I've played here a lot of times now. I obviously lost the final to Bruno a few years ago. It's a home event, and it has...
Steve Darcis became the first main draw winner on Sunday at the inaugural Antalya Open, moving into the second round over Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4. The Belgian needed only a break of serve in the first and third sets to advance in two hours and 20 minutes. Next up for Darcis is third seed Fernando Verdasco. [ALSO LIKE] Adrian Mannarino scored the first upset of the tournament with a 7-5, 6-4 win over seventh seed and #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric. The Frenchman will play Egyptian qualifier Mohamed Safwat or Turkish wild card Cem Ilkel in the second round. Safwat, Matthew Ebden of Australia, Kamil Majchrzak of Poland and Ramkumar Ramanathan all won their final-round qualifying matches on Sunday. Ebden...
