Tennis News

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David Ferrer further improved his chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the seventh time Thursday when he reached the Erste Bank Open quarter-finals. The Spaniard, who is currently No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, added 45 points after he defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-1 in 63 minutes.

Ferrer, who recorded the 650th match win of his career with victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round, is now 49-12 on the year by reaching his 12th quarter-final (or better). He has won four ATP World Tour titles in 2015. The top seed will next challenge eighth seed Fabio Fognini, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Radek Stepanek earlier in the day.

Kei Nishikori and Ferrer are both on course to clinch the final two spots that are up for grabs at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November.

No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson survived the loss of the first set to eliminate Jiri Vesely 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5. Anderson held two set points on his opponent’s serve in the opening set, but was edged by the Czech in the tie-break. The South African rallied to even the match, then broke serve on the final point of the match to secure the win.

Anderson served 15 aces to move to 980 for the year. He has never fired 1,000 aces in a season, but is now within reach of becoming the third player to reach the milestone in 2015, following Ivo Karlovic and John Isner. Since Infosys ATP aces statistics were first kept in 1991, there has never been a season in which three players topped 1,000 aces in a year.

“It was a very tough match,” noted Anderson. “I’ve played Jiri a couple of times so I knew what to expect. I missed my chance in the first set but took really good care of my serve. I dug deep to save break points at five-all in the third.”

With the win, Anderson set up a quarter-final clash against American Steve Johnson.

“Our college careers never overlapped, but [Steve] was one of the best collegiate players in history and we’ve had the chance to face each other on the [ATP World] Tour a few times,” noted Anderson, who was a standout in NCAA Division I tennis for the University of Illinois before turning pro. He holds a 4-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the USC alumnus.

Johnson battled hard to beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-4, striking 20 aces to Janowicz’s 23. He also lost just four of his service points and saved both break points he faced.

Murray/Peers Advance To Doubles SFs

Second seeds Jamie Murray and John Peers, who will compete in the English capital next month, saved eight of nine break points to beat Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 6-2, 6-3 in 59 minutes. Murray will team up with Soares in 2016. Murray and Peers will next face Fognini and Max Mirnyi, who beat Julian Knowle and Daniel Nestor 6-3, 6-2. Nestor, 43, has 997 doubles match wins.

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Former champion Marcos Baghdatis upset fourth seed Bernard Tomic 7-6(7), 6-3 on Wednesday at the If Stockholm Open to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since June.

“I think I played very smart today,” said Baghdatis. “I used my slice a lot, I used my brain a lot. It was important to do that against Bernie. You need to be smart on court and not hurry too much and I think I did it very well. It paid off today so I’m very, very happy.”

The Cypriot won the third of his four ATP World Tour titles in Stockholm in 2009, defeating Olivier Rochus in the final. The 30-year-old Baghdatis, who was runner-up in Atlanta in the summer (l. to Isner), goes on to face Gilles Muller, whom he beat in their one previous meeting in the Atlanta semi-finals.

“I’ve known him since we were juniors,” said Baghdatis. “We’ve traveled together since we were 14 years old. We know each other very well. I’ll try to work on some things tomorrow and hopefully I can come 100 per cent ready on Friday and try to find a way to win.”

Eighth seed Muller reached his 10th ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season as he defeated John Millman 7-5, 6-3 in the second round.

The 32-year-old Muller fired 14 aces and converted three of his four break points as he wrapped up his 33rd victory of the season in 76 minutes.

No. 7 seeded American Jack Sock served his way into the quarter-finals (10 aces, 85 per cent of first serve points won) with a 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-4 win over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco. The 23-year-old is seeking his second career ATP World Tour title, his first coming in Houston earlier this year.

No. 3 Seed Gilles Simon of France dispatched Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-4, converting four of six break-point opportunities in the one-hour, 19-minute contest.

“It’s always more difficult than it looks,” said Simon. “I had a really good start. Then it was a bit harder in the middle of the second set. Finally, I played a really good match.”

Of the prospect of facing Sock in the next round, Simon said, “He’s playing great tennis. It’s going to be difficult. We met in Rome. I won [4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3], but it was a tough match.” 

Top Seeds Reach Doubles Quarter-finals

Top seeds Jeremy Chardy and Robert Lindstedt raced into the quarter-finals, defeating German duo Benjamin Becker and Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-1 in just 51 minutes. Chardy and Lindstedt are playing together for just the second time. Home hope Lindstedt is bidding to win the Stockholm crown for the first time, following runner-up finishes in 2012 (w/ Zimonjic) and 2013 (w/ Bjorkman).