Pablo Carreno Busta overcame injury and a set deficit to celebrate his second career ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The Spaniard outlasted Italian Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 inside Olympic Stadium. Carreno Busta won nearly 70 per cent of his first-serve points and benefitted from six Fognini double faults in the one-hour and 56-minute final. He also padded his already impressive 2016 résumé. The 25 year old has captured two ATP World Tour titles this season, having won the Winston-Salem Open crown in August (d. Bautista Agut). Carreno Busta finished runner-up on clay in Estoril and Sao Paulo. The Barcelona resident also became the third Spaniard to win two ATP World Tour...
Fabio Fognini held off a late challenge from Philipp Kohlschreiber to advance to the final of the VTB Kremlin Cup 6-1, 7-6(2). The Italian is into his second ATP World Tour hard-court final, having lost in St. Petersburg to Martin Klizan four years ago. All four of Fognini’s tour-level titles have come on clay. “It’s always difficult after you win a set 6-1 to keep playing at such a high level,” Fognini said. “Against him it’s always difficult because he’s really good in every part of the game. I’m very happy and hopefully I can win the title tomorrow.” Fognini will face Pablo Carreno Busta, who won 80 per cent of first-serve points in taking out Stephane Robert 6-3, 7-6(2)....
Jurgen Melzer joined Radek Stepanek as only the second active player to record 300 singles and doubles career match wins on Thursday at the VTB Kremlin Cup.
The Austrian partnered Julian Knowle to a 6-1, 5-7, 11-9 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin and Stephane Robert in Moscow. They will next face top seeds Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers or wild cards Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals.
The 35-year-old Melzer has compiled a 347-331 record, including five titles as a singles player, and is now 300-242 lifetime, with 13 trophies, as a doubles competitor.
Fabio Fognini got the better of Albert Ramos-Vinolas for the second time in as many weeks. The Italian extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head lead to 8-0 lifetime against the second seed with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Friday for a place in the VTB Kremlin Cup semi-finals. Fognini, who also beat his Spanish opponent at last week’s Shanghai Rolex Masters, recorded his 25th match win of the year in 76 minutes. He will now challenge third seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-2 in 76 minutes. A duo of promising Russian teens enjoyed breakthrough runs in Moscow, but were felled by experienced opponents in the final eight. Daniil Medvedev took the second set 6-0 against veteran Stephane Robert,...
Qualifier Daniil Medvedev reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final on home soil on Thursday at the VTB Kremlin Cup, knocking out 2010 champion and fourth seed Viktor Troicki, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. “I talked to the coach and with the Russian players who had already beaten him. They gave me some tips. But, of course, you can’t win just thanks to those tips. Otherwise he wouldn’t be ranked No. 30,” said Medvedev. “I was very glad to see so many spectators cheering for me and this support gave me additional strength. Even though I was tired after the first set, the crowd helped me to win the match.” The Russian has jumped from No. 329 to No. 123 this...