Vesely Takes His Chances, Beats Sandgren In Nur-Sultan
Czech Jiri Vesely worked hard to break down fifth-seeded American Tennys Sandgren’s game on Tuesday for a place in the Astana Open second round.
Vesely saved all five break points he faced and hit nine aces in a 6-4, 7-6(7) victory over one hour and 40 minutes. He saved one set point at 6/7 in the second set tie-break with a big serve. Sandgren won 36 of 43 first-service points overall and hit 13 aces.
“It was a very tough match, as Tennys has had very good results on hard courts,” said Vesely, in an on-court interview. “He was a tough opponent for the first round, but I’ve been feeling good. I just focused on my serve and waited for my chance. The surface is pretty fast, so it’s difficult to return and I waited for one or two chances in the tie-break. I was a little bit lucky at the end.”
The World No. 66 next plays Belarusian Egor Gerasimov, the player he beat 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3 in the Tata Open Maharashtra final on 9 February. Gerasimov knocked out Lloyd Harris of South Africa 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3) in just over two hours in the Nur-Sultan first round.
[WATCH LIVE 2]Elsewhere, Japan’s Yuichi Sugita saved seven of 10 break points to beat fellow qualifier Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes. He now challenges third-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, who broke into the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings on 24 August, recorded his fourth tour-level win of the year over Kazakhstani wild card Timofey Skatov 6-2, 6-0 in one hour and now faces eighth seed Jordan Thompson of Australia.