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Top Seed Ramos-Vinolas Cruises In Sao Paulo Opener

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2018

Top Seed Ramos-Vinolas Cruises In Sao Paulo Opener

Jarry outlasts Pella for another quarter-final berth

A year ago this week, Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas was on the doorstep of a second ATP World Tour title. The left-hander led by a set in the final of the Brasil Open before falling just short against Pablo Cuevas.

But the 30-year-old is back in Sao Paulo and into another championship charge, beating Brazilian qualifier Guilherme Clezar 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to advance to his second quarter-final of the season.

“I’m happy. I’ve been working a lot on my serve and I didn’t have the results yet,” said Ramos-Vinolas, who hit 14 aces and lost just three points on his first serve. “So today I think is the first day in the season that I can say that I served really good.”

Ramos-Vinolas, who is No. 22 in the ATP Rankings, advanced to his sixth ATP World Tour final (1-5) earlier this year at the Ecuador Open in Quito, where he lost to first-time trophy winner Roberto Carballes Baena. The 30-year-old will next face Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who ousted sixth seed Guido Pella 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2).

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“I expect a difficult match with no rhythm like last week,” said Ramos-Vinolas, who lost their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last week in Rio de Janeiro. “I hope to be more ready than last week. I know how he plays a little bit more and I will try to fight every single ball.”

The 22-year-old Jarry has certainly made his mark on the ATP World Tour in 2018. Since reaching his first tour-level quarter-final in Quito earlier this month, Jarry has also made the semi-finals in Rio (l. to Schwartzman) and now the final eight in Sao Paulo.

“It’s amazing. It’s what everybody wants to do, not lose in first rounds,” Jarry said. “[You] win some matches, you gain a lot of confidence and now that I started this year playing at the ATP [World Tour] level and I’ve done these great results, I’m very happy and I’ll try to keep on going in this tournament as far as possible.”

Did You Know?
Jarry had won five tour-level matches prior to 2018. He now has 10 victories this season alone.

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Stan Wawrinka out of Indian Wells and Miami ATP Masters events

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2018

Three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka will not play in the ATP Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami as he continues to recover from knee surgery.

The 32-year-old Swiss retired from his Provence Open match against Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka last week, only his fourth tournament since Wimbledon last year.

He missed the rest of the 2017 season after having surgery in August.

“I need to be patient and give my body the time it needs, but my goal is to come back on the clay,” he said.

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The clay-court season begins next month after Indian Wells and Miami, culminating with the French Open at Roland Garros – where Wawrinka won the title in 2015 and reached the final last year – between 27 May and 10 June.

“Coming back from a big surgery is complicated and after having played a few tournaments I have discussed with my team that it is best for me to build on the progress and go back to practice,” said Wawrinka, whose other Grand Slam wins came at the 2014 Australian Open and 2016 US Open.

“I’m working hard on and off court and hope to be back within a few weeks.”

The tournament in Indian Wells starts on Monday, followed by the Miami event from 19 March.

Both hard-court tournaments are Masters 1000 events – the highest-tiered tournaments on the ATP Tour after the Grand Slams and ATP Finals.

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Wawrinka Withdraws From Indian Wells & Miami

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2018

Wawrinka Withdraws From Indian Wells & Miami

Swiss star hopes to return shortly on the clay

Former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka announced on Thursday that he will not play the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells or the Miami Open presented by Itau in order to continue his recovery from a knee cartilage injury that required two surgeries last August.

“They are both amazing events, but coming back from a big surgery after having played a few tournaments, I have discussed with my team that it is best for me to build on the progress and go back to practice,” Wawrinka said in a statement. “I’ve enjoyed being back on Tour playing matches and this gives me even more motivation to go back on the practice court. My goal is to find my highest level again and in order to do that I will keep working hard every single day.”

The Swiss superstar returned earlier this year after six months on the sidelines, competing in four tour-level events — the Australian Open, the Diema Xtra Sofia Open is Bulgaria, the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. His best performance was a semi-final showing in Sofia (l. to Basic).

“I need to be patient and give my body the time it needs, but as of now my goal is to come back on clay,” Wawrinka said. “I love that part of the season and hope to be ready by then. I want to thank all my fans who are always a great support. I’m working hard on and off the court and hope to be back within a few weeks.”

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Defending Champions Rojer/Tecau Into Dubai SFs

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2018

Defending Champions Rojer/Tecau Into Dubai SFs

Paes, 44, edges closer to match wins milestone

Defending champions and second seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau booked their spots in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi-finals on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Marcin Matkowski and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. The Dutch-Romanian team has a 16-4 record in finals, including a 5-1 mark in ATP World Tour 500 title matches. Rojer and Tecau will next face third seeds Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram or Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop.

Leander Paes moved to within two match wins of 750 victories on day four, partnering Jamie Cerretani to a 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 result over fourth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus. They will now prepare to face Damir Dzumhur and Filip Krajinovic in Friday’s semi-finals.

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Bautista Agut Growing In Confidence In Dubai

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2018

Bautista Agut Growing In Confidence In Dubai

Pouille, Krajinovic play during the night session

Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut moved to within one victory of a place in his 14th ATP World Tour final (7-6 record) on Thursday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The 29-year-old edged past Borna Coric of Croatia 7-6(4), 6-4 in one hour and 43 minutes for a place in the semi-finals, where he will meet a wild card, Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri or Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

Third seed Bautista Agut, who beat Juan Martin del Potro for his second ASB Classic trophy in January, recovered from a 1-3 deficit in the first set. He broke Coric to love at 4-4 in the second set. “I think I played very good tennis,” said Bautista Agut. “[It] was not easy to beat Borna [as] he’s very solid. He was hitting very good serves and playing very aggressively… I didn’t rest all match.”

Second-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille, this year’s Open Sud de France titlist (d. Gasquet), will challenge eighth seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan later today. Meanwhile, seventh-seeded Serbian Filip Krajinovic meets Evgeny Donskoy of Russia.

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