Tennis News

Vukic Sets Musetti Showdown In Pune

Australian Aleksandar Vukic rallied past Frenchman Hugo Grenier 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) on Tuesday at the Tata Open Maharashtra to set a second-round showdown against second seed Lorenzo Musetti. The World No. 140 is looking forward to the opportunity.

“He’s one of the youngsters who are really trying to crack through,” Vukic said. “It will be a great match, but I’m feeling good and it will be a good match either way.”

It took a big effort for the 25-year-old, who reached the second round at the Australian Open, to earn his spot in the second round in Pune. Vukic needed two hour and 21 minutes to advance.

“[It was] very, very physical. I thought I played a pretty sloppy first set, but then started to find some form,” Vukic said. “Dug out a few games, got up 3-1 in the third and credit to him, he kept fighting and he broke me back then. Honestly could have gone either way, but always that first match is so tough, so very happy with it.”

In other action, sixth seed Emil Ruusuvuori clawed through a tight second set to defeat Belarusian Egor Gerasimov 6-0, 7-6(11). The Finnish star will next face Czech Vit Kopriva, who eliminated Turkey’s Cem Ilkel 6-4, 6-1.

Portuguese veteran Joao Sousa, the former World No. 28, battled past Indian wild card Arjun Kadhe 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-2 in two hours and 26 minutes.

“It was a tough match today against a local player. I knew I was perhaps a little bit better on my level, but it was definitely a tough match after being a set down and a very close second set,” Sousa said. “In the end I was able to hit some good shot to get my level a little bit higher.”

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Martinez Manages Monteiro Marathon In Cordoba

Pedro Martinez was two points from defeat on Monday in Argentina, but the Spaniard found a way to win.

The eighth seed battled past Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 57 minutes to reach the second round at the Cordoba Open. Monteiro served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but never held a match point.

At 30/15 in that game, the Brazilian was in a good position to close out a victory. But Martinez guessed right at net for a volley on that point before staving off a forehand barrage from Monteiro on the next point and eventually breaking back to get on serve.

Martinez will next play German Yannick Hanfmann or Argentine wild card Juan Ignacio Londero. The Spaniard reached his first ATP Tour final last year on clay in Kitzbühel.

The second main draw match of the day also went to a final-set tie-break. Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas outlasted home favourite Facundo Bagnis 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5) after three hours and 17 minutes.

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Martin/Tsonga Make Strong Start In Montpellier Doubles

Fabrice Martin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made a good start to their first tournament together on Monday in Montpellier. The Frenchmen defeated countrymen Albano Olivetti and Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Open Sud de France.

Tsonga has won four ATP Tour doubles titles — all with Frenchmen — including the 2009 Rolex Shanghai Masters crown with Julien Benneteau. Martin is a full-time doubles player who has lifted seven tour-level doubles trophies.

In other Montpellier action, Czech Roman Jebavy and Slovakian Alex Molcan defeated French wild card Robin Bertrand and Antoine Hoang 6-2, 6-2.

Argentines Enjoy Success In Cordoba
Two all-Argentine teams, both wild cards, earned straight-set victories on Monday at the Cordoba Open to advance to the second round.

Juan Pablo Ficovich and Facundo Mena eliminated Chileans Tomas Barrios Vera and Cristian Garin 6-4, 7-5 and Pedro Cachin and Tomas Martin Etcheverry ousted countrymen Federico Coria and Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4. 

Top Seeds Advance In Pune
Top seeds Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith ousted Italian Stefano Travaglia and Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1, 6-4 to move into the second round of the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune. Saville recently represented Australia at the ATP Cup, where he won two of his three matches alongside John Peers.

Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul also advanced in Pune when they upset third seeds Szymon Walkow and Jan Zielinski of Poland 6-3, 7-6(5).

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Defending Champ Goffin Battles From Brink In Montpellier

David Goffin’s Open Sud de France title defence was in jeopardy on Monday in Montpellier, but the Belgian battled into the second round.

Eighth seed Goffin rallied past Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 53 minutes to improve to 9-3 at the ATP 250. He will play Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round.

“The match was a very tough one, especially at the beginning when I was a little bit tight. My groundstrokes were a little bit too slow, a little bit too short,” Goffin said. “It’s never easy when Benjamin is playing like that. He had time to hit some big groundstrokes, big first serves and he’s very aggressive, so it’s never easy. But during the match I stayed positive even though I was one set and one break down.”

Bonzi led 6-2, 3-0, but was unable to prevent the 2021 champion’s comeback. Goffin earned five service breaks in the match.

“I tried to stay focussed, to stay as long as possible on the court to try to get some confidence, to work on certain things: to be more aggressive, [hit] a better quality of ball,” Goffin said. “At the end it was better and better, so I’m really happy the way I played at the end of the second and in the third.

“It’s a good win for me, very important for my confidence. I’m happy to [try to] defend my title and be in the second round.”

Sixth seed Alexander Bublik also moved into the second round with a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

The Kazakhstani’s only previous appearance in Montpellier came two years ago, when he lost against Goffin in the Round of 16. Next up for the 2021 ATP Tour aces leader (840) will be French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert or German Peter Gojowczyk.

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