Eighth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez set a clash with the top-seeded doubles team in the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals. The Spaniards defeated Tommy Haas and Max Mirnyi 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the last eight, where they will face Henri Kontinen and John Peers. Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers, the seventh seeds, saved seven of the eight break points they faced to beat Fabio Fognini and Treat Huey 6-7(4), 7-5, 10-6. Next for the Croatian/Spanish tandem will be fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. Also in Friday’s quarter-finals, third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares will take on sixth seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, and second seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will play Nick...
Eighth seed Dominic Thiem went the distance in his third-round match Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open, saving five match points in a thrilling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) victory over No. 12 seed Grigor Dimitrov. “I think it was a very good match from both of us,” said Thiem, who improved to a 2-1 record against the Bulgarian in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series. “The tie-break in the third set was amazing. It was 4-3 for him and I played two very good points. He made two unbelievable rallies. The tie-break is always a little bit [of] luck, but I think it was a good match for both of us. That’s the bad thing about tennis, only one guy can win.”...
#NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev booked a place in only his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final on Thursday when he overcame 2012 finalist Tomas Berdych at the Mutua Madrid Open. The 20-year-old Zverev left No. 11 seed Berdych on 698 match wins after a 6-4, 6-4 victory in 75 minutes. He will next challenge Pablo Cuevas for the first time on Friday. “Obviously today was a great match,” admitted Zverev. “But also the days before I played very well, against Marin [Cilic] yesterday and against Fernando [Verdasco] in the first round. I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals here. “I didn't have a lot of time to recover. I went to bed at about 3 a.m. because the [Cilic]...
The third-round match at the Mutua Madrid Open between fourth seed Rafael Nadal and 16th seed Nick Kyrgios had plenty of hype around it, but the Spaniard blunted any chances for drama with a convincing 6-3, 6-1 win. “I think I served very well and committed very few errors. I think I made a step forward compared to yesterday. To be able to win 6-3, 6-1 is great news,” said Nadal. “It’s not normal to win against an opponent like this because Nick is a really good opponent.” Nadal takes the lead against Kyrgios in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-1, with both wins coming on clay. He picks up his tour-leading 31st win of the season and remains undefeated...
#NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric is a lucky loser in the main draw at the Mutua Madrid Open, but showed plenty of skill in shocking World No. 1 Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals. “After losing in qualies and I was booking my flight back home, this is a surprise, for sure,” said Coric. “But in the last two matches, I've been feeling like I was back in Marrakech and played really good today. It’s a huge win and is going to mean a lot for me because confidence plays a huge role in my tennis.” Coric, who moved into the main draw after Richard Gasquet withdrew due to back pain, took advantage of his second chance this week...
