Tennis News

In one of the biggest comebacks of the 2015 season, Roberto Bautista Agut saved six match points to down Steve Johnson 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(8) in just over two hours on Saturday at the Valencia Open. Johnson struck 13 aces to Bautista Agut’s six and claimed the first set, but the No. 7 seed reached his second ATP World Tour final in as many weeks (l. to Cilic in Moscow) by forcing a third-set tie-break and by recovering from a 3/6 deficit in the decider.

With the victory, home hope Bautista Agut improved to 4-0 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Johnson and prevented the American from reaching a second consecutive tour-level final after he finished runner-up last week in Vienna (l. to Ferrer). 

In the second semi-final, World No. 46 Joao Sousa‘s fine run of form continued, powering past Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4 to reach his seventh ATP World Tour final.

The Portuguese is in the midst of his most successful season on the circuit, featuring in four finals, while winning a career-high 37 matches. Sousa will look to claim his second tour-level title and end a five-match skid in finals when he takes on Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday. He previously hoisted the trophy in Kuala Lumpur in 2013.

Also a finalist on the clay of Geneva and Umag and indoor hard courts of St. Petersburg in 2015, Sousa has not dropped a set in two encounters against Pospisil, having triumphed in their clash at Roland Garros in May. He needed 77 minutes to dispatch the Canadian, benefiting from 18 unforced errors while turning aside both break points faced.

The Spaniard fell to Sousa in the pair’s lone ATP World Tour meeting (Umag 2015), but holds a 4-0 record in ATP Challengers and ITF Futures matches against the Portuguese.

Jamie Murray and John Peers reached their eighth final of the season on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. Third seeds Murray and Peers scraped past Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt 7-5, 1-6, 12-10. Murray and Peers could not convert match point opportunities at 9/8 and 10/9 in the Match Tie-break prior to closing out victory in 71 minutes.

Murray and Peers will bid to lift their seventh team title Sunday in their 16th final. They are 2-5 in finals this year, but will split up at the end of their first appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November.

Second seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau fell to Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 6-3, 7-6(5) in Saturday’s second semi-final, with the Austrian-Brazilian pair still in contention to grab the final spot in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. Peya and Soares will look to overtake Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea after beating the Indian-Romanian duo in the Basel first round.

Murray and Peers square off against Peya and Soares for the eighth time and third in 2015. The Brit and the Aussie trail 2-5 overall, but have not dropped a set in the rivalry this year, winning in the Wimbledon quarter-finals and last week at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

Butorac/Lipsky To Face Lopez/Mirnyi In Valencia Final
Americans Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky have not dropped a set all week at the Valencia Open and will look to ride their good fortune to a second team title and first since Estoril 2009. Butorac and Lipsky defeated Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 7-6(4), 7-6(3) to reach their second final as a duo this year (Winston-Salem). Individually, Lipsky will vie for his 14th tour-level crown in 24 finals, while Butorac is hoping to build on a 16-10 mark in title matches. They will face Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi on Sunday after the Spanish-Belarusian tandem downed Julian Knowle and Oliver Marach 6-1, 3-6, 10-6. Lopez (1-6 in finals) and Mirnyi (48-42 in finals) were runners-up in their lone ATP World Tour title match in Acapulco last year.

Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares never faced a break point in scoring a lopsided 6-0, 6-1 upset of Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic.

The Austrian/Brazilian combo won 84 per cent of their first-serve points in the 42-minute win, converting five of 10 break points. They will now face Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the semi-finals.

Lopez To Carry Home Hopes In Valencia

Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi downed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and David Marrero 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 to move into the doubles semi-finals on Friday. Lopez is now the only Spaniard with a shot at the doubles crown, having defeated compatriots Garcia-Lopez and Marrero. He and his Belarussian partner will take on Julian Knowle and Oliver Marach for a spot in the final.

Steve Johnson, who is a career-high No. 33 in the Emirates ATP Rankings heading into this week, continues to impress, posting a 7-5, 6-4 win over sixth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Friday in Valencia. The 25-year-old American reached his first ATP World Tour final last week in Vienna (l. to Ferrer), and improved to 9-3 since the US Open.

Johnson secured the win in just under 90 minutes, out-acing his opponent nine to four. He saved one break point (1/2) while going three-for-10 on break opportunities on the Garcia-Lopez serve.

The Californian will face another Spaniard in the semi-finals in Roberto Bautista Agut, who downed qualifier Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-3 in just over 70 minutes.

Bautista Agut, ranked No. 24 to his opponent’s No. 215, saved two break points in the first game of the match before securing the crucial break on the final point of the opening set. Serving for the match, the Spaniard fell behind 0/40, but won five consecutive points to clinch a semi-final berth. He holds a 3-0 lead in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Johnson, but the pair has not met in a tour-level event since Wimbledon 2014.

Lopez Lone Home Hope In Doubles

Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi downed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and David Marrero 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 to move into the doubles semi-finals on Friday. Lopez is now the only Spaniard with a shot at the doubles crown, having defeated compatriots Garcia-Lopez and Marrero. He and his Belarussian partner will take on Julian Knowle and Oliver Marach on Saturday for a spot in the final.

Richard Gasquet was living on the edge in Basel as he kept alive his slim chance of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Frenchman saved one match point to defeat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(6) in the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-finals on Friday.

Gasquet must win the Basel title and next week’s BNP Paribas Masters in Paris to stand a chance of grabbing one of the final two berths at the Final Showdown, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori are currently ahead of the ninth-placed Frenchman in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Karlovic had his chance to claim victory when he led 6-5 in the deciding tie-break, but Gasquet held his nerve and won the final three points to prevail in two hours and 26 minutes. The 36-year-old Karlovic dropped to a 0-9 mark this season in deciding tie-breaks and to a 301-301 career tie-break record. Gasquet, meanwhile, is 4-0 in deciding tie-breaks in 2015.

The 29-year-old Gasquet is a two-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season, lifting trophies in Estoril (d. Kyrgios) and Montpellier (d. Janowicz). The right-hander goes on to face Rafael Nadal or Marin Cilic.

Vasek Pospisil is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final in 14 months after beating Daniel Brands 6-3, 6-3 at the Valencia Open on Friday.

The Canadian notched his 25th win of the season as he broke Brands three times for victory in 74 minutes. Pospisil reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final earlier in the year at Wimbledon (l. to Murray) and also reached the last eight in Atlanta (l. to Baghdatis) and Kuala Lumpur (l. to Lopez).

Pospisil will look to reach his second ATP World Tour final when he faces Joao Sousa on Saturday. The Vernon native finished runner-up to countryman Milos Raonic in his maiden final at the Citi Open in Washington in August 2014.

Sousa saved all five break points he faced to defeat Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 32 minutes. The Portuguese will face Pospisil for the second time this season, having beaten the Canadian in the first round at Roland Garros.

The 26-year-old Sousa is bidding to reach his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season after runner-up finishes in Geneva (l. to Bellucci), Umag (l. to Thiem) and St. Petersburg (l. to Raonic). He has compiled a 36-31 record in his career-best season.