Watch Hot Shot as Roger Federer finds the line with a delicate backhand slice. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com
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Watch Hot Shot as Ivo Karlovic surprises Richard Gasquet with quick feet and quick thinking. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.
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Steve Johnson maintained his run of form on Thursday by recording his 35th match win of 2015 for a place in the Valencia Open quarter-finals against sixth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or qualifier Taro Daniel.
Johnson, who finished runner-up to David Ferrer in last week’s Vienna final, defeated second seed Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-6(3) in 75 minutes. Johnson came within two points of winning when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Lopez broke back to force a tie-break. Lopez recovered from 0/3 to 3/3 in the tie-break, but lost the next four points.
Qualfier Mischa Zverev reached his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season by beating fourth seed Fabio Fognini, ranked 197 places higher than him in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 6-2, 7-6(3) in 78 minutes. Zverev will next face seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who kept home hopes alive with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over wild card Andrey Rublev.
Another qualifier, Daniel Brands, lost just five of his service points in a 6-2, 6-2 win over lucky loser Albert Montanes, a replacement for top seed and three-time champion David Ferrer. He’ll play Vasek Pospisil on Friday.
Later in the day, Joao Sousa converted five of his 18 break point opportunities to oust fifth seed Benoit Paire 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Doubles Seeds Fall In Valencia
The No. 2-seeded duo of Lukasz Kubot and Leander Paes were upset by Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 7-6(6), 6-4, and Americans Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky were 6-4, 6-3 winners over Andre Bergemann and Artem Sitak.
Donald Young proved to be too good for fourth seed Kevin Anderson on Thursday in a 6-2, 7-6(6) win at the Swiss Indoors Basel. It was his third best win of the season, following on from victories over No. 6-ranked Tomas Berdych at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and No. 11-ranked Gilles Simon in the US Open first round.
Young now faces fellow American Jack Sock, who withstood 14 aces from compatriot and sixth seed John Isner‘s racquet in a 7-6(5), 6-3 win. The last time two Americans reached the Basel quarter-finals was 1994 when Patrick McEnroe reached the final (l. to Ferreira) and Jared Palmer reached the semi-finals (l. to Forget).
“Those matches are never fun, playing one of your best friends on the tour,” said Sock on facing Isner. “It never sits to well after the match. It’s part of the game. Somebody’s got to win. He’s done it to me a few times. Fortunately, today I was able to get through.”
No. 5 seed Richard Gasquet kept his hopes alive for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday with a 7-6(1), 6-4 victory over Dominic Thiem.
Now into the quarter-finals, where he’ll face Ivo Karlovic, Gasquet must win titles at Basel and the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris (Nov. 2-8) to qualify. A loss at any point would mean that David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori would secure the two remaining spots in the eight-man field.
This first career FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between these one-handed backhanders saw Gasquet and Thiem test each other early, Thiem registering a break to open the match. But Thiem, at 22 the youngest player in Top 20, couldn’t hold the lead and the Frenchman would claim the set in a one-sided tie-breaker. It was Thiem’s serve that let him down the most in the opening stanza, as the Austrian would land just 48 per cent of his first offerings.
The 29-year-old Gasquet would carry that momentum into the second set, consolidating an early break to jump out to a 2-0 advantage. He would never look back.
With 11 days remaining in the Emirates ATP Race to London, two spots are still up for grabs at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be played at London’s O2 Nov. 15-22. The top eight players in the race will compete at the year-end championships. Six players have qualified so far: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. Ferrer and Nishikori are next in line to qualify. Only Gasquet is capable of passing either player.
Seventh seed Marin Cilic set up a meeting against third seed Rafael Nadal following a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Teymuraz Gabashvili in 75 minutes. Nadal leads Cilic 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with their last meeting coming in May 2011 and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
Doubles Seeds Advance in Basel
No. 2 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau defeated Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez 7-5, 7-6(5), while Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt took down Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
Roger Federer drops a set against Philipp Kohlschreiber, but prevails to remain perfect against the German.
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From way out of court, Jack Sock produces a piece of brilliance against John Isner. Watch hot shot. And watch live matches at TennisTV.com
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Dominic Thiem and Richard Gasquet play out one of the points of the year in Basel. Watch live matches at TennisTV.com
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Rafael Nadal remained perfect against Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday, outplaying the Bulgarian for the seventh straight time at the Swiss Open Basel 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
The highly anticipated second-round match-up between the former Basel quarter-finalists saw the 24-year-old Dimitrov get out of the blocks in a hurry, breaking his No. 3-seeded opponent to open the match. But Nadal would equalise with a break in the eighth game, reeling off nine of 12 points to level the set at 4-all when a Dimitrov transition volley failed to clear the net. Nadal would subsequently consolidate; then score yet another service break to clinch the first set. Dimitrov, still seeking his first title of the year and his first final since Stockholm in 2014, would amass 16 unforced errors in the stanza alone.
Having surrendered his foothold in the first set, Dimitrov came out with a renewed sense of urgency in the second, two breaks and a like number of holds giving him an early 4-0 edge before Nadal would get on the board.
It was deja vu as the No. 7-ranked Nadal was again broken to open up the decisive third set. But as he did earlier in the match, the 29-year-old would work his way back to knot the set at two games apiece. A tentative service game from Dimitrov at 3-4 would give Nadal his fifth and final break of the evening, and the Spaniard wouldn’t waste the opportunity, stepping up to serve out the match in two hours and 12 minutes.
“It was a positive match,” said Nadal. “I won against a tough player, coming back from a break down in the third. That’s important for my confidence.”
Nadal, who improved to 54-17 on the year, has shown some steely resolve in back-to-back matches, having rallied from 1-6, 3-5 down on Monday to defeat Lukas Rosol 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4).
Dimitrov fell short in his pursuit of a fourth straight Basel quarter-final. He finished with 26 winners to 41 unforced errors.
Fourth seed Kevin Anderson served exceptionally well Wednesday to beat Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in one hour at the Swiss Indoors Basel. Anderson, who is now 45-22 on the season, won all 30 of his first service points and hit 29 winners to set up a second-round match against Donald Young.
Seventh seed Marin Cilic, buoyed by the confidence of winning his 14th title at Moscow last week, struck 14 aces and lost just four of his first-service points to beat Basel native and wild card Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 7-6(3). The pair also met in the 2010 first round. Cilic goes on to face Teymuraz Gabashvili, a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victor over Leonardo Mayer, in the second round.
Jack Sock will look to improve on a 1-4 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against his fellow American John Isner after he beat another compatriot, lucky loser Denis Kudla, 6-4, 6-2 in 55 minutes.
No. 8 seed David Goffin scored a one-hour and nine-minute 6-4, 6-3 win over Adrian Mannarino. In doubles, No. 3 Jamie Murray/John Peers were 7-6(1), 4-6, 11-9 winners over Treat Huey/Henri Kontinen.
Ivo Karlovic accounted for second seed Stan Wawrinka in the first round. Read More
Grigor Dimitrov flicks a backhand lob for a winner against Rafael Nadal at the Swiss Indoors Basel.