Evgeny Donskoy saved three match points as he pulled off a stunning upset on Wednesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, ousting seven-time former champion Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(5) in an absorbing final match of the day. Federer looked poised to claim his ninth victory of the year when he held match points at 6/4 and 7/6 in the second set tie-break, before Donskoy fought back to force a decider. Federer looked to have regrouped when he broke in the sixth game of the third set and served for the match at 5-4, but again he failed to close out victory, losing his serve to 30. Donskoy then turned the tables as he broke Federer in the 11th...
World No. 1 Andy Murray surged into the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday as he defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-0. Murray raced through in just 73 minutes, surrendering just eight points on serve and converting five of his nine break points. From 4-2 in the first set, he reeled off eight straight games to beat the Spaniard for the third time in four meetings. “It was way better than how I played at the beginning of the year, that's for sure,” stated Murray. “Playing aggressive, feeling more solid, when I'm in position to dictate the points, I'm doing it, moving forward. Watch Full Match Replays “I hit my forehand very well in the last couple...
Former World No. 7 Fernando Verdasco battled to a confidence-boosting win on Wednesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, edging fellow Spaniard and sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals. Since reaching the semi-finals in the first week of the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha (l. to Djokovic after holding five match points), the left-hander had won just one match in three tournaments. But he toughed out victory over Bautista Agut in two hours and 26 minutes, breaking in the final game to seal the win. "With him, until the last point you have to have unbelievable focus and fight every point," said Verdasco. "That's what I did, and I'm very...
Juan Martin del Potro has set a blockbuster second-round clash with top seed Novak Djokovic at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Tuesday night. The Argentine, playing just his second event of 2017, narrowly held off the free-swinging Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1) to claim his opening match in Acapulco. The 19-year-old #NextGenATP player Tiafoe grew up idolising del Potro and went close to toppling the former World No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in the two-hour, 33-minute affair. It was del Potro, a semi-finalist last week at the Delray Beach Open, who started stronger when he broke for 5-4 in the opening set. The Argentine brought up three set points on a return error from the American qualifier’s racquet. Tiafoe...
Rafael Nadal is up and running at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel with a convincing first-round outing against Mischa Zverev on Tuesday night. The two-time Acapulco champion saw off his fellow left-hander 6-4, 6-3 as he safely moved through in 76 minutes. The second seed held break points at 4-3 for the chance to serve for the opening set. Zverev – coming off an outstanding Australian Open campaign in which he stunned top seed Andy Murray en route to his first major quarter-final – confidently saved both as his net-rushing paid dividends to level for 4-4. Serving to stay in the set, however, the German faltered. He pushed a low forehand volley long to fall behind 0-30 before Nadal brought up...
