At the Australian Open, Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S. put a scare into one of the ATP World Tour's best players in Grigor Dimitrov, pushing the Bulgarian to five sets. Fortunately for Germany's Alexander Zverev, there would be no such drama on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco. The second seed dismissed McDonald 6-3, 7-5 in 81 minutes. His victory was in stark contrast to the two-hour, 23-minute struggle 2016 champion Dominic Thiem endured in his opening assignment as he eked out a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 triumph over British qualifier Cameron Norrie. Zverev, the World No. 5 in the ATP Rankings, was nearly flawless on serve as he won 75 per cent of his first-service...
Nicolas Jarry's fantastic February collected another win on Tuesday at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo. The Chilean won 74 per cent of his first-serve points (34/46) for the match and saved both break points faced in the decider to fight past Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. “I'm happy to be able to get this great win. Dusan is a great clay-court player, and it's a great victory for me,” Jarry said. [ALSO LIKE] The 22-year-old Jarry reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final at the Ecuador Open three weeks ago and his first ATP World Tour semi-final last week at the Rio Open presented by Claro. Jarry lost to the eventual champion at both tournaments (l. to Carballes...
Juan Martin del Potro sped through his first-round match at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Tuesday. The sixth seed needed only 62 minutes to beat Germany's Mischa Zverev 6-1, 6-2. Del Potro broke the serve-and-volleying Zverev six times out of 11 opportunities. Del Potro also won 55 per cent of his second-serve points (11/20). The Argentine will next face Spain's David Ferrer. #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov picked up more momentum, beating former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori, who's on the comeback from wrist surgery, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1. Shapovalov reached his second ATP World Tour semi-final last week at the Delray Beach Open (l. to eventual champion #NextGenATP American Tiafoe). “I just kept fighting. I got my break, and the momentum...
Malek Jaziri completed the biggest win of his career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, coming from a set down to beat top seed Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday night. It was his first victory over an opponent in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings (1-10 lifetime). Jaziri, who reached the quarter-finals in 2014 (l. to Kohlschreiber), won 78 per cent of points behind his first serve and saved seven of the eight break points he faced to reach the last 16. “[It is a] great feeling today, to win my first [match against a] Top 5 player,” reflected Jaziri. “I am really happy for that. I tried to fight every point since the beginning. It...
Two days after a three-set loss to Karen Khachanov in the Open 13 Provence final, Lucas Pouille successfully returned to action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday. The Dubai resident, who reached the semi-finals in 2017 (l. to Murray), defeated former Top 10 player Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round. Pouille played the crucial points expertly throughout the 79-minute clash, breaking serve on each of his three break point opportunities, while saving eight of the nine chances his Latvian opponent managed to create. "I have won many matches over the past three weeks, so I'm arriving here with a lot of confidence," said Pouille. "I think that helped me in the tough moments today....
