#NextGenATP wild card Alexander Zverev kept his nerve to fight back from a 1-3 deficit in the deciding set to beat 2013 finalist Nicolas Almagro 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 on Tuesday for a place in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell third round. Almagro led 40/0 in the final game, but two sloppy backhand drop shots let Zverev back into the 12-point game en route to the German’s 14th match win of the year.
Zverev, the leader of the Emirates ATP Race to Milan for a place at the #NextGenATP Finals in Milan, from 7-11 November, will next face #NextGenATP Hyeon Chung or No. 12 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Chung knocked out Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-4.
Read: Zverev Seeks Nadal Redemption
Fourth seed Dominic Thiem, one of the hardest working players on the ATP World Tour – contesting his 11th tournament of the year – saved all six break points he faced to knock out Kyle Edmund 6-1, 6-4 in 80 minutes. Thiem, who captured his eighth ATP World Tour title at the Rio Open presented by Claro (d. Carreno Busta) and is 19-9 on the 2017 season, will next face Brit Daniel Evans, who upset No. 14 seed Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-4.
Yuichi Sugita defeated ninth seed Richard Gasquet, competing in his first ATP World Tour tournament for two months due to appendicitis surgery in early March, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in two hours and 27 minutes. At 4-5 in the deciding set, Gasquet recovered from 0/40, but a strong start to the tie-break by the 28-year-old Japanese gave him a second victory of 2017.
Sugita will now meet seventh seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who improved to 2-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Italian Andreas Seppi with a 6-4, 6-2 win. The Spaniard saved both break points faced and won 84 per cent of his service points (38/45) in the 63-minute victory.
South African Kevin Anderson beat four-time finalist David Ferrer for the first time on clay 6-3, 6-4 in 66 minutes to move into the third round. Anderson had been 0-2 against Ferrer on clay in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
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Ferrer was playing in his first tournament in a month since losing in the opening round at the Miami Open presented by Itau on 25 March. The 35 year old had been sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury.
World No. 41 Bernard Tomic will challenge World No. 1 Andy Murray after the Aussie earned a confidence-boosting third match win of the year in beating Dustin Brown 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in one hour and 40 minutes.
