Bolelli/Fognini Reach QFs In Bastad

Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini survived a scare to reach the quarter-finals at the Nordea Open Wednesday, edging Ariel Behar and Tomislav Brkic 7-6(3), 2-6, 10-3 in Bastad.

The second seeds, who enjoyed a run to the final together at the ATP 250 event in 2018, raised their level in the Match Tie-break to ensure they started their title quest with victory, advancing after one hour and 43 minutes.

The Italians are aiming to capture their second tour-level crown of the season as a team this week, having lifted the trophy in Rio de Janeiro in February. They will next play Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa at the clay-court tournament.

Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez continued their strong season, downing Filip Bergevi and Lukasz Kubot 7-5, 6-1 to advance to their ninth quarter-final of the year. The fourth seeds captured titles in Marrakech and Mallorca earlier this season.

Nikola Cacic and Aleksandr Nedovyesov became the first team to reach the semi-finals in Bastad, edging Marc-Andrea Huesler and Pavel Kotov 4-6, 6-2, 10-3 in 72 minutes. Cacic and Nedovyesov are joining forces for the first time this week and will next play either Bolelli and Fognini or Carreno Busta and Sousa.

Purcell/Van Rijthoven Advance In Newport
Max Purcell could not get past Andy Murray Wednesday on the singles court at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, but he found more joy on the doubles court just days after lifting the Wimbledon doubles title alongside fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden.

Purcell and Tim van Rijthoven, who reached the Wimbledon singles fourth round in his tournament debut, defeated Max Schnur and Artem Sitak 7-6(2), 7-6(3) to make a winning start in Newport. They next face fourth-seeded Americans William Blumberg and Steve Johnson.

Also advancing in Wednesday’s doubles action were Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow. The third seeds won an all-American matchup against Richard Ciamarra and Sam Querrey to set up a quarter-final meeting with another American pair in Alex Lawson and Robert Galloway.