#NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe has landed a breakthrough victory over childhood idol and No. 2 seed Juan Martin del Potro to reach the Delray Beach Open quarter-finals on Thursday. The 20-year-old needed four match points to eke out a 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5 win – his first in three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings with the Argentine. It sets up a showdown with reigning #NextGenATP Finals champion and No. 8 seed Hyeon Chung after the South Korean’s earlier defeat of qualifier Franko Skugor. It means Chung is the only seed to reach the quarter-finals, marking just the second time in the tournament's history that only one seed has reached the last eight (No. 8 seed Sanguinetti in 1998). Del Potro, the 2011...
#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov doesn't want to leave the Delray Beach Open and its hundreds of Canadian tennis fans just yet. The 18-year-old left-hander advanced to his first quarter-final of the season on Thursday, beating 21-year-old Jared Donaldson 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes. Shapovalov, the youngest player in the draw, has toughed his way through two tricky matches in Delray Beach. The Canadian prevailed past the big-serving Ivo Karlovic in his opener. “I definitely picked up my serve in the second and third set... It was a really even match. We were both playing extremely well,” Shapovalov said. “I've been in this position before. Last year I was coming up with a lot of 'W's in...
Former Marseille finalist Tomas Berdych was prepared for a tough match on Thursday at the Open 13 Provence but not that tough. The 2013 finalist overcame 18 aces from Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia to reach the quarter-finals 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3. Berdych broke in the third and ninth games in the decider to advance in two hours and 14 minutes. “I was expecting a tough battle but I think this one was a little beyond my expectations. I think he played really, really well... He was playing a very good match,” said Berdych, who will next meet Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur. Second seed Stan Wawrinka had to retire just 12 games into his first match in Marseille. The Swiss, who's on the...
A little frustration from Gael Monfils would be no surprise after rain postponed overnight the completion of his second-round victory over top seed Marin Cilic at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The unseeded Frenchman had already let a match point slip the day before against the Croat and faced a set point after the resumption of play on Thursday. Fortunately for Monfils, however, the pair returned to court for just four more points, as he completed the upset on his second match point, 6-3, 7-6(8). The win extends Monfils’ FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Australian Open finalist to 3-0. He had beaten Cilic once before in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Olympic Games. [ALSO LIKE] Next up, he...
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, top seeds at Delray Beach Open, advanced past #NextGenATP stars Taylor Fritz and Stefan Kozlov, 7-5, 6-0 on Wednesday. The four-time champions needed one hour, two minutes to book their place in the quarter-finals, where they'll face fellow Americans Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow. In other action, top seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus reached the Open 13 Provence semi-finals after a 6-3, 6-3 win over Florin Mergea and Daniel Nestor. Klaasen and Venus reached their second semi-final of the season (Auckland) with great composure, saving all six break points they faced in the 57-minute contest. Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin needed a Match tie-break to join Klaasen and Venus in the final four. The...
