A week ago, #NextGenATP American Ernesto Escobedo had never won an ATP World Tour match on clay. Safe to say he's now enjoying the surface. The 20 year old advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final on Friday, knocking out second seed and 2013 champion John Isner 7-6(6), 6-7(6), 7-6(5) at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston. “I'm speechless right now. I can't believe it. It was a very long match, three tie-breaks. I just stuck with it. I just told myself it's going to happen, just keep on pushing, stay mentally tough,” Escobedo said. The right-hander notched an ace out wide on his seventh match point to finish off Isner, who delivered...
Borna Coric ousted second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas to reach the semi-finals of the Grand Prix Hassan II on Friday. The 20-year-old #NextGenATP player from Croatia came back from a set down to advance with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory in two hours and 30 minutes. Coric, who last reached an ATP World Tour semi-final at this tournament a year ago, next faces Jiri Vesely, whom he leads 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The two players are both past winners of the ATP Star of Tomorrow presented by Emirates award, with Vesely holding the distinction in 2013 and Coric the following year. In his quarter-final, the 23-year-old Vesely fired nine aces and saved three of the four break...
For nearly two hours, 39-year-old Tommy Haas was about even with Jack Sock, who's been one of the hottest players on the ATP World Tour this season. But the 24 year old eventually pulled away from the former World No. 2 on Thursday, moving into the quarter-finals and winning what will likely be Haas' final match at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston. The top-seeded American saved four of five break points – all four saved came in the final set – to beat Haas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and take the lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry. Haas, who won the Houston title in 2004, had captured their first meeting at 2013 Roland...
Tommy Robredo stated his intention of another title-winning run in Marrakech on Thursday as he ousted top seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix Hassan II. The Spaniard has an 11-1 record at this ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament, winning the title in 2013 (d. Anderson) and reaching the final in 2011 (l. to Canas) when it was held in Casablanca. His victory over Dimitrov marked his first Top 20 win since beating No. 11 Dimitrov in the third round at Indian Wells in 2015. The 34-year-old Robredo extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead over Dimitrov to 3-1 as he defeated the Bulgarian in one hour and 49 minutes. It was...
Fifth seed Fernando Verdasco remained perfect on clay against Kevin Anderson on Wednesday, edging the South African 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to move into the second round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston. After taking the first set tie-break, the Spaniard was broken to start the second set but broke right back to even the set at 1-1. Verdasco would win the final two points of the second set tie-break to finish the one-hour and 57-minute contest. The 33-year-old left-hander now leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-2, having won their previous match-ups on clay in 2011 (Estoril) and 2012 (Barcelona). Anderson, though, had won their past two contests, at the 2013 Australian Open and...
