Tennis News

Second seed Milos Raonic made short work of fifth seed Tommy Robredo as he powered into the St. Petersburg Open semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-2 victory on Friday.

Raonic, who is making his debut at this ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard court tournament, is looking to mount a late charge for one of the four remaining spots at the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after his season was hampered by a foot injury.

The Canadian surged into the semi-finals in St. Petersburg in just 53 minutes, firing 11 aces and converting all four of his break points. “It was a difficult match,” said Raonic. “I’m really happy with how I played. I played better than yesterday, obviously, and that’s all I can ask from myself.”

As he looks to reach his second ATP World Tour final of the season, Raonic will face Roberto Bautista Agut, whom he beat in their one previous meeting in Paris-Bercy last year.

“Bautista Agut will present problems tomorrow,” said Raonic. “The question is, can I deal with those problems? Hopefully I can find the solutions in my match tomorrow and I can play as well as I did today and continue to improve.”

Fourth seed Bautista Agut dismissed Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-3 in 70 minutes. The Spaniard won the pair’s first meeting as he broke serve three times and saved the four break points he faced.

The 27-year-old Bautista Agut, who saved three match points to beat Teymuraz Gabashvili in the first round, improved to a 32-23 match record on the season. The right-hander has a 0-4 record in ATP World Tour semi-finals this year.

Third seed Dominic Thiem reached his fifth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season as he defeated Denis Istomin 6-2, 7-5.

“I played a very, very good first set,” said Thiem, who claimed his 33rd win of the season. “The second set was very close. I’m happy that I didn’t have to play a tie-break because it would have been tough against Denis. But I made a good break of his serve at 5-5 and I’m pretty happy with my game.”

The 22-year-old Austrian is looking to win his fourth title of the year, adding to the trophies he lifted in Nice (d. Mayer), Umag (d. Sousa) and Gstaad (d. Goffin). He goes on to face seventh seed Joao Sousa, who edged Tomas Berdych’s conqueror, Simone Bolelli, 7-6(7), 7-6(1).

“I think it was a close match today,” said Sousa, who prevailed in one hour and 44 minutes. “Simone was hitting the ball very hard and he beat a great player in Tomas yesterday. I think I played very good in both tie-breaks and I was also a little bit lucky.”

Sousa lost to Thiem in the Umag final in July and trails the Austrian 0-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. “You learn from other matches,” said Sousa. “For sure, he’s a very good player. It’s going to be a tough fight tomorrow. I’ll give it my best to try to win.”

Istomin Into Doubles Semi-Finals

Denis Istomin, who had been eliminated from singles earlier in the day, tasted victory in his second match on Friday. He and partner Alexander Bury overcame the loss of the first set to edge Philipp Oswald and Adil Shamasdin in a match tie-break, 3-6, 6-3, 13-11.

St. Petersburg Open (St. Petersburg, Russia) 

Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic participated in the Russian tradition of planting a tree as part of a green initiative on behalf of the tournament. 

All the players attended the gala dinner, held at the Monferran Halla of the Four Seasons Hotel. Model Natalia Vodianova was in attendance as the players enjoyed electric violin duo Vibration, a haircut show by Dmitri Vinokurov and learned a Russian song, “Kalika”.

The players were treated to another swanky event, the player party, a Great Gatsby-themed black tie soiree held at the Olympia Palace. Entertainment included singer Johnny Kelvin and a live band.

Marcos Baghdatis took a canal boat through a series of St. Petersburg’s scenic waterways as he was interviewed for Tennis Channel’s “Tour Guide” show.

Mariusz Frystenberg, Santiago Gonzalez, Marcel Granollers and Mikhail Youzhny hosted 30 youngsters in the Masterclass Kids’ Clinic, packed with drills and tennis tips.                                   

Dominic Thiem, Ernests Gulbis and Roberto Bautista-Agut met with fans for autographs and photos.

Moselle Open (Metz, France)

Second seed Gilles Simon visited the nearby Zoo d’Amneville. Read More 

“It was a great experience. I enjoyed it,” Simon said about his visit with sea lions, eagles, gorillas, lions and more. “The thing I liked the most was meeting Watson [the sea lion]. I thought he was a great animal, very soft and gentle, but at the same time very strong and powerful. The most impressive were the eagles. Having one on your arms didn’t make me feel very secure.”

Steve Darcis, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Adrian Mannarino, Paolo Lorenzi and Edouard Roger-Vasselin participated in autograph sessions around the grounds.

Playing on French soil for the first time since defeating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for the Roland Garros title, Stan Wawrinka needed three sets to outlast upset-minded Dustin Brown at the Moselle Open in Metz, where he advanced to the quarter-finals via a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win.

“Dustin is a tough player,” said Wawrinka, who improved to 43-13 on the year. “He’s really aggressive. Especially in the first round, it’s never easy. But I was happy with my game.”

Serving at 4-4 in the telltale third-set tiebreak, Brown approached the net with a down-the-line forehand, but the German didn’t put the ball deep enough. The top-seeded Wawrinka responded with a crosscourt backhand winner to clinch a pivotal mini break and went on to close out the match in one hour, 57 minutes.

Brown saved 10 of 11 break-point opportunities in all, winning 68 percent (72 of 105) of his service points. Wawrinka finished with eight aces.

Elsewhere, fourth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez rallied from a set down to beat wild card Pierre-Hugues Herbert 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Spaniard notched his 26th win of the season in one hour and 35 minutes, withstanding 13 aces and converting three of his six break points. Garcia-Lopez is a two-time champion on the ATP World Tour this season, lifting the trophies in Zagreb (d. Seppi) and Bucharest (d.Vesely).

Garcia-Lopez advances to a quarter-final clash with sixth seed Martin Klizan, who defeated Wimbledon quarter-finalist Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 7-6(7) in one hour and 52 minutes.

“It was a tough match against Vasek, because he is a great player,” said Klizan. “He has one of the best serves in the world. I tried to focus on the return and in the tie-break I was a bit lucky.”

Also advancing to the quarter-finals was 33-year-old Nicolas Mahut, who registered 24 aces in upsetting seventh seed Adrian Mannarino in three sets 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. He will next face another fellow Frenchman in No. 3 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber improved to 3-0 against Paolo Lorenzi with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the unseeded Italian in one hour and seven minutes. 

On his St. Petersburg Open debut, second seed Milos Raonic cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy on Thursday. But top seed Tomas Berdych wasn’t so lucky, losing his opener to Italian Simone Bolelli.

The Canadian was playing his first match since a third-round exit at the US Open and is looking for a big showing in the final part of the season as he makes a last push for one of the four remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, where he played for the first time last year.

“It’s great for a first match since the US Open. I served well, which is always very important for me,” said Raonic, who in his first meeting with the No. 117-ranked Donskoy fired 13 aces and won 82 percent of his service points. “I created chances. I wasn’t as efficient as I would like to have been, but all I can do is create those chances and give myself the opportunities to do better. The goal is to get better and better bit by bit, and hopefully I can get better tomorrow.  I know I will need to but if I serve well I’ll always have a chance.”

The right-hander goes on to face fifth seed Tommy Robredo, who trailed 3-5 in the first set before fighting back to claim a 7-6(5), 6-1 victory over Marcos Baghdatis in the second round. 

“After I broke back I think I played much more aggressively and in the second set I played pretty good,” said Robredo. “Hopefully tomorrow I can adjust and play both the first and second sets well. I’m happy the way I’m playing at the way I’m hitting the ball.”

The Spaniard, runner-up in Bastad (l. to Paire) earlier in the year, is through to his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final and will look to overturn a 0-4 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Raonic. 

Robredo Takes Over ATP Instagram

Fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut saved three match points as he battled into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory over home hope Teymuraz Gabashvili. Gabashvili served for victory at 5-3 in the third set, but failed to convert three match points as Bautista Agut finished the match by winning four games in a row.

“I had the match under control, leading 6-3, 4-2, but he’s a really good player,” said Bautista Agut. “When he was down in the score, he was playing better. I played a bad game at 4-2 and he started to play better and better. The third set was very close.

“I saw on the first match point that he was a bit tight and I tried to make him play and put all the balls in. I could feel that he was under pressure.”

The Spaniard is through to his sixth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season and improved to a 31-23 match record. He will face Lucas Pouille, who withstood 15 aces and saved seven of eight break points to edge Jerzy Janowicz 7-6(8), 7-6(1). The 21-year-old Pouille is looking to reach his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the season.

The upset of the day went to unseeded Simone Bolelli, who defeated top seed Tomas Berdych 7-6(5), 6-4. The 29-year-old Italian continues to put together his most productive season since 2008, when he won a personal-best 29 matches and finished inside the Top 50. His win on Thursday marked his second Top-10 win of 2015.

“I was feeling good today, even though I was down a break in the first set,” said Bolelli, who improved to 26-21 on the year. “But I had a good feeling on the court. Point by point, I started to feel better.”

Though Berdych is on pace to post the best win percentage and year-end ranking of his career, the Czech is still seeking his first title of the year. He remains in contention for one of four remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Bolelli’s next opponent will be No. 7 seed Joao Sousa, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Marcel Granollers. Also moving on to the elite eight was Denis Istomin, who rallied from a one-set deficit to dispatch Benjamin Becker 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

A LOOK BACK
Amex Istanbul Challenger (Istanbul, Turkey): Karen Khachanov rallied from a set deficit to upset top seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Sunday’s Istanbul final, claiming his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title. The 19-year-old Russian is the ninth teenage champion on the circuit this year. One of nine players under the age of 20 in the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, Khachanov vaults to a career-high World No. 164 with the win. Stakhovsky, meanwhile, falls to 8-8 in Challenger finals.

During the week, the tournament was honoured for 25 years on the ATP Challenger Tour. Read More

Pekao Szczecin Open (Szczecin, Poland): In last year’s Pekao Szczecin Open final, Jan-Lennard Struff came up short in his bid to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title, falling to countryman Dustin Brown in straight sets. This year, the 25-year-old German would make no mistake in getting his hands on the trophy, downing qualifier Artem Smirnov 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday. Seventh seed Struff captured the title the hard way, rallying from a set down to defeat top seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals, before upsetting former World No. 9 Nicolas Almagro in three sets in the semis. Struff had lost his first eight finals on the circuit, but has since won two of three title matches. Smirnov is the third qualifier to reach the final in the 23-year tournament history, joining 1996 champion Jimy Szymansky and 2004 titlist Edgardo Massa.

Banja Luka Challenger (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina): Dusan Lajovic had to wait a day to hoist the Banja Luka trophy after persistent rain washed out the final against 2012 champ Victor Hanescu. Postponed to Monday at 12:00 noon, Lajovic would prevail in a pair of tie-breaks, beating the Romanian 7-6(5), 7-6(5). The third-seeded Serb did not face a seeded opponent all week and did not drop a set in capturing his fourth title, joining Filip Krajinovic as Serbian titlists in 2015.

ATP Challenger China International (Nanchang, China): Peter Gojowczyk needed a mere 51 minutes to dispatch Amir Weintraub 6-2, 6-1 in the Nanchang final – the second-shortest final on the ATP Challenger Tour this year. Only the Guadalajara title match was shorter, when Rajeev Ram beat Jason Jung in 48 minutes. Fifth seed Gojowczyk claimed his fourth Challenger crown and first since November of last year when he hoisted the trophy in Bratislava. Gojowczyk joins Struff as German champs last week, bringing the nation’s total this year to four (Kamke, Zverev). Weintraub, meanwhile, took a significant step on the comeback trail, following a severe groin injury sustained in April 2014.

Morocco Tennis Tour – Kenitra (Kenitra, Morocco): Fourth seed Roberto Carballes Baena became the second Spaniard to win in Morocco in as many weeks, claiming his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on Saturday. One week after falling to Daniel Munoz-de la Nava in the Meknes final, Carballes Baena moved to 28-19 on the circuit this year in downing countryman Oriol Roca Batalla in exactly one hour. Roca Batalla retired trailing 6-1, 5-1 with an adductor injury. Meanwhile, Munoz-de la Nava became the first player to attain 40 match wins this year in reaching the quarter-finals.

Cary Tennis Championships (Cary, U.S.A.): American Dennis Novikov won the 14th all-countryman final on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, downing Ryan Harrison 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday at the inaugural Cary Tennis Championships. Novikov – the third first-time titlist last week – is the ninth different American to lift a trophy on the circuit in 2015. The 21 year old, who won the bronze medal at the Pan-Am Games earlier this year, was appearing in his first final.

What The Players Said
Struff: “Last week when I looked at the tournament draw and saw how strong the players would be in Szczecin, I did not believe I could win. It was hard. I had to play a lot of difficult matches, but in the end I succeeded and I’m very happy. Now I think what to do with the trophy for my victory. My girlfriend will probably find an appropriate place in the house to properly expose it. Or maybe I’ll just give it to my parents. We’ll see.”

Smirnov: “This was a great week, during which I achieved the greatest success in my life. This result allows me to make a very large jump in the ranking and it will be a great help in the coming months. For the rest of the year I have been planning to play in Challengers and the points won in Szczecin will allow me to skip qualifying and instead I’ll probably be in the main draws of these events.”

Novikov: “I’m very happy to get my first Challenger title, especially in the USA. Thanks to everyone for the support and to Cary for hosting a great event.”

WHAT’S AHEAD
For the second straight week, there are six tournaments on four continents. Tim Smyczek is the top seed at the inaugural Columbus Challenger, while Diego Schwartzman looks to go back-to-back in Campinas. Guilherme Clezar was the champ in 2013, while second seed Guido Pella hoisted the trophy in 2012. Only Argentines and Brazilians have reached the final in the four-year tournament history.

At the $125,000 event in Kaohsiung, seventh seed Luca Vanni returns to the scene of his first Challenger final a year ago. Jiri Vesely looks to kick off his Asian swing on the ATP World Tour with a deep run as the top seed. Hyeon Chung is seeded second, with Lukas Rosol third. In Izmir, three-time runner-up (2009-11) Marsel Ilhan returns as the top seed, while fourth seed Lukas Lacko claimed the title in 2011.

Dusan Lajovic leads the field in Sibiu, Romania, with 2012 titlist Adrian Ungur unseeded. Also in Europe, two former champions are in the draw in Trnava, Slovakia: third seed Inigo Cervantes (2011) and Jaroslav Pospisil (2010).