Fourth seed Alexander Zverev will go for two titles at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier after prevailing in singles and doubles semi-finals on Saturday. The #NextGenATP star rallied from a set down to defeat second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4. “I'm very happy to be in the final, first final of the year. Really good start to the year,” said Zverev. “It was a very tough match today as well. I think both of us played really well from the baseline and are very powerful. So hopefully it can be another high-level match tomorrow.” Zverev battled past Tsonga in a physical contest that lasted two hours and 20 minutes. Zverev erased a break point and held to...
Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas came out on top in an all-Spanish battle on Friday against qualifier Roberto Carballes Baena, prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to move into the semi-finals of the Ecuador Open in Quito. Little separated the two players for most of the match, but Ramos-Vinolas relied on his outstanding stamina to power through the final four games and advance in two hours and 54 minutes. He has now matched his semi-final result from last year in Quito (l. Estrella Burgos). Next up for Ramos-Vinolas is third seed Paolo Lorenzi, who continued his outstanding form by cruising past Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-4 and matching his semi-final result from last year in Quito. The Italian, who has yet to drop serve...
Fans at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier will have plenty of local players to cheer on this weekend after second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, third seed Richard Gasquet and Benoit Paire all won their quarter-final matches on Friday. Two-time defending champion Gasquet fought off a mid-match surge from qualifier and fellow Frenchman Kenny De Schepper to advance 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. The third seed was unable to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, but grabbed the critical break of serve at 4-4 in the deciding set and held in the next game to prevail in two hours and 16 minutes. Gasquet is now on a nine-match winning streak in Montpellier and improves his record here to...
Home favourite Grigor Dimitrov delighted the Bulgarian fans as he reached the semi-finals of the Garanti Koza Sofia Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over last year’s runner-up, Viktor Troicki, on Friday. “I was feeling the ball a little bit better, serving well and returning great, so all of those things helped me out there against Viktor,” said Dimitrov. “It’s the first time for me to be in the semi-finals here, so it’s hard not to be excited. It’s been a long time since I’ve played in front of a home crowd and they’ve been crazy all week, so I’m just trying to take it in and enjoy every moment." The Haskovo native is contesting an ATP World Tour event...
Two-time defending champion Victor Estrella Burgos continued his dominance in Quito on Thursday at the Ecuador Open, surviving 39 aces and three match points to defeat top seed Ivo Karlovic 6-7(7), 7-6(5), 7-6(8). Neither Karlovic nor Estrella Burgos faced a break point in the 36 games played. Estrella Burgos squandered four set points in the first-set tie-break, but played a much cleaner tie-break in the second set to level the match. The top seed held match points at 6/4 in the third-set tie-break, but gave them away with a double fault and a forehand error. Karlovic saved a match point with an ace at 6/7, but missed a forehand just wide up 8/7. The determined Estrella Burgos made good on...