Top seed Andy Murray continued his quest for World No. 1 on Thursday at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna, weathering a marathon match against Gilles Simon to move into the quarter-finals, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. “It was a very long match, but I expected it to be very hard because it’s just that way against Gilles. You play a lot of long points. You feel like the harder you hit the ball, the harder it comes back,” said Murray. “You just have to try to use some variety, some slice and drop shots, and find that balance to get him out of his rhythm.” Murray started out slowly by dropping his first two service games and trailing 5-2. Although...
Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi remain on track to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after beating local wild cards Antoine Bellier and Marco Chiudinelli 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Wednesday. Huey/Mirnyi are currently No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. There are three more berths up for grabs for the year-end showdown. No. 2 seeds Nicolas Mahut, who is already qualified for London alongside usual partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert, and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-4, 7-6(5). The Frenchmen landed 78 per cent of first serves and saved both break points faced. Vienna: Bryans A Win Away From 1,000 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are within...
Two-time champion Juan Martin del Potro returned to the Swiss Indoors Basel on Wednesday for the first time since he had beaten Roger Federer in the 2013 final. Apparently there were no hard feelings as a packed crowd in St. Jakobshalle welcomed the Argentine back with a rowdy applause. Del Potro thanked them with his 11th consecutive win in the Swiss city, dismissing Dutch qualifier Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4. The 6'6” right-hander converted all four break points and won nearly 60 per cent of his second-serve points in the one-hour, 22-minute contest. After beating Federer in both the 2012 and 2013 Basel finals, del Potro missed the 2014 and 2015 tournaments because of a left-wrist injury that caused him to...
Kei Nishikori overcame a spirited effort from Italian Paolo Lorenzi to advance to the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-finals on Wednesday 7-6(3), 6-2. Nishikori spilled 18 unforced errors in the first set as the top Italian retrieved nearly everything back to him. But the World No. 5 cleaned up his play in the second set, reducing his unforced error tally to six to prevail in one hour and 38 minutes. The 26 year old is going for his second title of the season, having won his lone title indoors at the Memphis Open in February. [ALSO LIKE] Argentine Federico Delbonis joined Nishikori in the quarter-finals by outlasting Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3. Argentine Guido Pella moved into the second round...
Andy Murray drew a tricky opponent in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open 500 on Wednesday, but passed the test in beating Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-0. The win bolstered Murray’s quest to reach World No. 1, as he entered the week only 915 points behind Novak Djokovic (10,600) in the Emirates ATP Race To London and could take over top spot with a strong late-season showing. He improved to 65-9 on the year. Murray had never faced the left-handed Klizan in tour-level action, and the Slovakian looked to take control of the match in the early going. The Brit saved three break points in his first two service games before finding his range and claiming the opener....