Murray Takes Charge With Delicate Dubai 2017 Hot Shot
Murray Takes Charge With Delicate Dubai 2017 Hot Shot
Mar032017
Britain’s Andy Murray beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 7-5 6-1 to reach his second Dubai Championships final.
The world number one, who was involved in a 31-minute tie-break in his quarter-final, struggled in the first set against seventh seed Pouille.
The pair broke each other twice before Murray took the set after 68 minutes with his third break.
The final set was a one-sided affair as the Scot set up a meeting with Fernando Verdasco in Saturday’s final.
Spaniard Verdasco, 33, beat Dutchman Robin Haase 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-1.
“It was tough and I made a lot of mistakes,” Murray said. “But there was some good stuff in there.
“I think potentially the match yesterday had something to do with that – sometimes if your legs are a little bit tired, the serve is one of the first things that goes.
“As the match went on, I started serving a bit better and that helped me.”
Murray, 29, is into his second final of the year but has never won the title in Dubai, losing to Roger Federer in his previous final appearance in 2012.
Playing his first tournament since his fourth-round defeat at the Australian Open in January, the Scot could extend his lead at the top of the world rankings with victory on Saturday.
However, Murray is wary of the threat posed by world number 35 Verdasco, who beat him in the 2009 Australian Open.
“This week he’s had some good wins,” Murray said. “Where the balls are fairly heavy here on a quick court, he can generate a lot of power, he can control the ball.
“And when he’s dictating the points, he’s one of the best in the world at doing that.”
World number two Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the Mexico Open quarter-finals in straight sets by Australian Nick Kyrgios on Thursday.
Aussie to play Querrey in semi-finals
Sixth seed Nick Kyrgios put in one of the finest performances of his career on Thursday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, firing 25 aces and saving a pair of set points to shock top seed Novak Djokovic 7-6(9), 7-5.
“It’s what I dreamed of as a little kid, playing on these great venues against some of the greatest players in the world,” said Kyrgios. “I never have a problem getting up for these matches.”
Kyrgios picked up his 11th career victory over a Top 10 player. He now has wins over three of the Big Four including Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Aussie is also through to his second consecutive ATP World Tour semi-final, having reached the final four last week at Open 13 Marseille (l. Tsonga).
Next up for Kyrgios is Sam Querrey, a 6-1, 7-5 winner earlier in the day over fourth seed Dominic Thiem. Kyrgios leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 1-0, scoring a win this past October in the opening round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Djokovic and Kyrgios held serve throughout the first set to force a tie-break. Kyrgios earned two set points at 6/4, but the Aussie shockingly hit a double fault on the first chance and a strong serve from Djokovic leveled the score at 6/6. A big first serve from Kyrgios erased a set point for Djokovic at 6/7, while Djokovic repeated that effort down 7/8. With the Aussie serving at 8/9, he fired two consecutive aces to earn a fourth set point chance. Djokovic finally relinquished the set with a forehand long and an energised Kyrgios sprinted to his chair in celebration.
Kyrgios continued to show a high level of discipline in the long baseline rallies throughout the second set, mixing up the pace of his shots and waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Both players traded routine service holds throughout the second set, but it was the World No. 2 who blinked first. Serving at 5-6, Djokovic handed Kyrgios a trio of unforced errors to bring up triple match point. Kyrgios only needed one, striking a forehand winner and raising his arms in celebration after one hour and 47 minutes.
“I wasn’t thinking about winning at any stage,” said Kyrgios. “I knew I had to stay in the moment because I’ve been in situations where matches have gotten away from me, so I had to stay switched on the whole time. I knew that if I just waited and waited, eventually I’d get my chance.”
Djokovic had not lost to a player as young as Kyrgios (21 years, 296 days) since retiring against 18-year-old Filip Krajinovic in the 2010 Belgrade quarter-finals.
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World number two Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the Mexico Open quarter-finals in straight sets by Australian Nick Kyrgios.
The Serbian top seed lost 7-6 (11-9) 7-5 in one hour, 47 minutes in what was the first ever meeting between the two.
Djokovic, 29, was back in action in Acapulco this week for the first time since his second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.
Kyrgios, 21, faces American Sam Querrey in Friday’s semi-finals.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Croatia’s Marin Cilic meet in the other semi-final.
In the women’s event, there were wins on Thursday for Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko and Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
Cilic advances into semi-finals on Thursday
Rafael Nadal continued his winning streak at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Thursday, overcoming the determined qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6(2), 6-3 to reach the semi-finals in Acapulco.
The second seed improves to 13-0 at this tournament and has won all 26 sets he’s played. Nadal’s previous Acapulco titles in 2005 and 2013 came on red clay. He’s seeking his first hard-court title since prevailing at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in January 2014.
Standing between Nadal and a spot in Saturday’s final is third seed Marin Cilic, who advanced to the final four without hitting a ball due to the withdrawal of Steve Johnson. The American suffered a sprained ankle during his second-round victory on Wednesday against wild card and #NextGenATP player Ernesto Escobedo. Nadal leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Cilic 3-1 and has won their past three matches.
The 21-year-old Nishioka, competing in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of 2017, showed no sign of nerves in one of the biggest matches of his career. He repeatedly tracked down shots that would be winners for Nadal against most players and goaded the Spaniard into numerous errors on his forehand wing. Nishioka twice held serve to stay in the opening set and force a tie-break. But Nadal’s forehand, which often betrayed him throughout the first set, came alive when it mattered most. He raced to a 5/0 lead and cracked a forehand winner on his first set point to grab the early advantage.
Nishioka refused to go away quietly and immediately scored an early break to go up 2-0 in the second set. But as Nadal continued to find the range on his shots, the intensity of the grueling baseline rallies appeared to finally take their toll on the Japanese player. The second seed went on a four-game run to lead 4-2 in the second set, which included several timely volleys. Nadal went 12/12 on net approaches during the match, fittingly hitting an overhead smash on match point to wrap up the contest in one hour and 57 minutes.
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Top seed Carreno Busta advances on Thursday
Two-time defending Brasil Open champion Pablo Cuevas continued his reign in Sao Paulo on Thursday, storming into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Facundo Bagnis.
The third seed broke his opponent twice in each set to wrap up a comprehensive victory in 64 minutes. Cuevas improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head over Bagnis to 4-0, with all four wins coming in Brazil. The Uruguayan has defeated Bagnis in the second round of Sao Paulo for three consecutive years and also prevailed last year in the opening round of the Rio Open presented by Claro.
Cuevas will play sixth seed Diego Schwartman, who broke serve five times to record an identical 6-2, 6-2 scoreline over Gerald Melzer. Schwartzman has been on fire so far in Sao Paulo, dropping just six games in his first two matches. The Argentine leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Cuevas 2-1 and won their most recent match last month at the Australian Open.
Top seed and last year’s Sao Paulo runner-up Pablo Carreno Busta extended his dominance this month in South America by defeating local favourite Joao Souza 6-4, 6-2. The Brazilian briefly rallied from down 1-5 in the first set, but the Spaniard controlled play for the remainder of the match. He boosts his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Souza to 2-1. All three of their matches have taken place in Brazil, with Souza winning in Sao Paulo in 2015 and Carreno Busta prevailing last week in Rio de Janeiro.
The Spaniard is now into his third consecutive ATP World Tour quarter-final. Carreno Busta recorded a semi-final showing at the Argentina Open (l. Dolgopolov) and runner-up finish last week in Rio de Janeiro (l. Thiem).
Next up for Carreno Busta is fifth seed Fabio Fognini, a 7-6(1), 7-6(3) winner over qualifier Alessandro Giannessi of Italy. The Italian is seeking his first semi-final in Sao Paulo since 2008. Carreno Busta leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 3-0, including two victories last year at the VTB Kremlin Cup and Paris Masters.