Upsets reigned again on Friday at the Ecuador Open, but a strong favourite managed to avoid the bug and emerged as the favourite heading into the final two days of the ATP World Tour 250 event. Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas beat Austria's Gerald Melzer 6-2, 6-4 to reach his third semi-final in Quito and his first of the season. The 30-year-old Spaniard pounced on Melzer's second serve, winning 70 per cent of those points (16/23). Ramos-Vinolas will play in his first ATP World Tour semi-final since making the 2017 Monte-Carlo final (l. to Nadal). Ramos-Vinolas has fallen in his previous two Quito semi-finals, but he's the only remaining player in Quito who has won an ATP World Tour title (2016...
Thursday was a dangerous day to be a seeded player at the Ecuador Open. Four seeds, including the only champion the tournament has ever had, all fell in a wild day of tennis in Quito. Three-time champion Victor Estrella Burgos was the first to fall. The Dominican had been 16-0 in Quito, by far his favourite place to play. But Estrella Burgos, who came back to beat Thomaz Bellucci on Monday, fell for the first time in the Ecuadorian capital, dropping his second-round match to Austrian Gerald Melzer 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Melzer saved three of four break points to improve to 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. [ALSO LIKE] “I want to congratulate my opponent, he played a good...
The numbers defy anyone's logic. In Quito, Victor Estrella Burgos has been unbeatable, literally. The 37-year-old has won all 16 of his matches at the Ecuador Open. That run includes three ATP World Tour titles – the only three of his career and every edition of the Ecuador Open (2015, 2016, 2017) – and his first-round victory on Monday, his fourth win against Thomaz Bellucci in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, all of which have come in Quito. Read More: King of Quito Estrella Burgos Survives Opener But outside of the Ecuadorian capital, Estrella Burgos has struggled to play up to his “King of Quito” label. The Dominican Republic native is 29-59 (.330) in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam...
Croatian Ivo Karlovic will turn 39 later this month, but the big right-hander still remains one of the very best servers on the ATP World Tour. The 6'11” Karlovic used his best weapon to much success again on Wednesday, not facing a break point during his 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4) win against American Ernesto Escobedo at the Ecuador Open. The seventh-seeded Karlovic struck 24 aces and won 95 per cent (53/56) of his first-serve points to move into the second round in Quito. Karlovic will next meet #NextGenATP Frenchman Corentin Moutet. [ALSO LIKE] “It was a really difficult match as you can see, with the result. With the altitude it is always difficult because the ball bounces higher... so there is...
Ivo Karlovic admits it: For a tennis player, he's old. But, as Karlovic continues to show during the 2018 ATP World Tour season, the Croatian is also still very good. Just last month, the 38-year-old achieved yet another marker for the history books. The 6'11” Karlovic struck 53 aces to beat Japan's Yuichi Sugita 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 in four hours and 33 minutes. With the win, Karlovic became the oldest player to compete in the Australian Open third round since Australian Ken Rosewall, aged 44, in 1978, when the draw was 64 players. Karlovic also became the oldest player in the Australian Open third round since the advent of a 128-player draw in 1982. [ALSO LIKE] Then again,...
