Two-time defending champion Pablo Cuevas looked out of it. Argentine Diego Schwartzman led the third seed 7-5, 4-1 during their Brasil Open quarter-final on Friday and was two holds away from handing Cuevas his first loss in Sao Paulo since 2014. But the 31-year-old Cuevas kept his three-peat hopes alive with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory that lasted two hours and 13 minutes, finishing after 1 a.m. in Sao Paulo. In Saturday's semi-final, Cuevas will meet top seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who fought off a late comeback from Italian Fabio Fognini to win 6-0, 7-6(1) and continue his stellar stretch on the Brazilian clay. Carreno Busta broke Fognini three times to take the first set in 20 minutes, but the...
Andy Murray returned to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final with a commanding 7-5, 6-1 victory over Lucas Pouille on Friday. The World No. 1 is targeting his first ATP World Tour title of the season in his third tournament appearance. The Scot began the year reaching the final in Doha (l. Djokovic), before a fourth round showing at the Australian Open (l. M. Zverev). Both players endured prolonged quarter-final contests, with Murray saving a career-high seven match points to edge past Philipp Kohlschreiber in two hours and 54 minutes, but the Scot was able to recover to quickly build a 3-0 lead over the Frenchman. Seventh seed Pouille, now without a set in four matches against Murray, was...
Sixth seed Nick Kyrgios put in one of the finest performances of his career on Thursday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, firing 25 aces and saving a pair of set points to shock top seed Novak Djokovic 7-6(9), 7-5. “It’s what I dreamed of as a little kid, playing on these great venues against some of the greatest players in the world,” said Kyrgios. “I never have a problem getting up for these matches.” Kyrgios picked up his 11th career victory over a Top 10 player. He now has wins over three of the Big Four including Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Aussie is also through to his second consecutive ATP World Tour semi-final, having reached the final...
Rafael Nadal continued his winning streak at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Thursday, overcoming the determined qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6(2), 6-3 to reach the semi-finals in Acapulco. The second seed improves to 13-0 at this tournament and has won all 26 sets he’s played. Nadal’s previous Acapulco titles in 2005 and 2013 came on red clay. He’s seeking his first hard-court title since prevailing at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in January 2014. Standing between Nadal and a spot in Saturday’s final is third seed Marin Cilic, who advanced to the final four without hitting a ball due to the withdrawal of Steve Johnson. The American suffered a sprained ankle during his second-round victory on Wednesday against wild card and #NextGenATP...
Two-time defending Brasil Open champion Pablo Cuevas continued his reign in Sao Paulo on Thursday, storming into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Facundo Bagnis. The third seed broke his opponent twice in each set to wrap up a comprehensive victory in 64 minutes. Cuevas improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head over Bagnis to 4-0, with all four wins coming in Brazil. The Uruguayan has defeated Bagnis in the second round of Sao Paulo for three consecutive years and also prevailed last year in the opening round of the Rio Open presented by Claro. Cuevas will play sixth seed Diego Schwartman, who broke serve five times to record an identical 6-2, 6-2 scoreline over Gerald Melzer. Schwartzman has been...
