Watch highlights from Vienna as Tsonga and Gulbis advance.
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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga crushes a down-the-line forehand winner against Tommy Haas in Vienna.
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Frenchman says he’s not looking too far ahead when it comes to qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Courtesy of Erste Open.
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A decade-and-a-half after launching his professional career, an emotional Jarkko Nieminen —the greatest tennis player Finland has ever produced — bid farewell to the singles game on Tuesday at the If Stockholm Open, where he was defeated in three sets by Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.
The three-time finalist was making his 16th consecutive tournament appearance in Stockholm. He was a finalist in 2001 (l. to Sjeng Schalken), 2006 (l. to James Blake) and 2011 (l. to Gael Monfils). During his career, the 34-year-old lefthander captured two singles and five ATP World Tour doubles titles, and reached a career-high No. 13 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in July 2006.
The soon-to-be retiree held two match points at 6-4 in the second-set tiebreak, but couldn’t close out his opponent. Almagro proved too powerful from the service stripe in the opening-round contest. He registered 15 aces and won 91 percent (45 of 49) of his first-serve points.
Nieminen broke into tears at the conclusion of the two-hour, eight-minute match, the crowd showing its support for the wildcard entrant’s long career.
“It’s amazing how Swedish people have supported me since the beginning,” said Nieminen. “I’ve always felt that there was a little Swedish tennis culture in me, not only for the support I get, but all the time that I have spent here I think I have learned a lot.”
Nieminen remains in the doubles draw with Johan Brunström, who he partnered to the 2010 final (l. to Butorac-Rojer). The duo will face No. 4 seeds Jonathan Marray/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi on Wednesday.
Nieminen’s Career Highlights
• Three Grand Slam quarter-finals: 2005 US Open, 2006 Wimbledon, 2008 Australian Open
• Earned 400th singles win on Mar. 8, 2015 (d. Benjamin Balleret in Davis Cup)
• Winningest player in Finland’s 88-year Davis Cup history (59-26)
• Two singles and five doubles titles on ATP World Tour
• 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympian
• 1999 US Open junior champion
Russia’s Andrey Rublev celebrated his 18th birthday on Tuesday at the Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow. But there would be no gifts from his veteran opponent, Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, who rolled to a 6-2, 6-4 win over the hometown favorite at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium.
The 61st-ranked Kukushkin won 75 percent of his first-serve points in the one-hour, 15-minute match.
Rublev, the youngest player in Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 179, failed to convert any of his four break-point opportunities. Despite the loss, the former World No. 1 junior remains fourth among active players with eight tour-level wins before his 18th birthday — one more than both Borna Coric and 17-time Grand Slam singles champion Roger Federer.
Wild card and World No. 118 Evgeny Donskoy reached the second round for the third year running by beating the No. 6-seeded Coric 6-4, 6-4 in 86 minutes.
Fifth seed Pablo Cuevas led 6-1 when qualifier Pere Riba retired due to a right leg injury after 25 minutes of play.
Doubles Seeds Fall In Openers
Top seeds Philipp Oswald/Adil Shamasdin and third seeds Aliaksandr Bury/Denis Istomin lost their opening doubles matches Tuesday afternoon.
Ricardas Berankis/Teymuraz Gabashvili could not convert four match point opportunities at 5-4 in the second set, but did enough to beat Oswald/Shamasdin 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 10-8 in one hour and 54 minutes. Aslan Karatsev/Daniil Medvedev knocked out Bury/Istomin 3-6, 7-6(2), 10-1 for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Albert Ramos-Viñolas was coming off perhaps the biggest win of his career — a 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 upset of Roger Federer in Shanghai. But there would be no upset bid on Tuesday against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, who overcame a slow start against his No. 9-seeded foe to prevail 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Despite landing just 53 per cent of his first serves, Ferrer converted three of four break-point opportunities to reach the second round in one hour and 52 minutes. He improved to 5-0 lifetime against Ramos-Viñolas in FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups.
Third seed John Isner scraped into the second round by striking 16 aces past qualifier Kenny de Schepper in a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) win. Isner, who is currently No. 12 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, could not convert a match point on de Schepper’s serve at 4-5, 30-40 in the second set, but was able to hold his nerve in the tie-break to wrap up victory in one hour and 43 minutes. He will now face Ernests Gulbis.
“In a way, he’s like a left-handed version of me,” said Isner. “I thought he served very well. He served a high percentage. The match came down to a few points, which I was able to win. I’m happy with my performance.”
Sergiy Stakhovsky brushed past qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-4 and now challenges seventh seed Ivo Karlovic, who has struck more aces than any other player since the ATP World Tour started keeping records in 1991. Paolo Lorenzi withstood 16 aces from Rajeev Ram‘s racquet to triumph 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4.
Frenchman Gael Monfils rallied from a set down to oust Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, saving six of eight break points and totaling nine aces.
Peya/Soares Begin Quest
Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares, who are battling to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London, defeated Austrian wild cards Andreas Haider-Maurer and Oliver Marach 6-4, 6-3 for a place in the quarter-finals.
Jarkko Nieminen, competing at his life tournament, talks to Alexander Zverev about life on the ATP World Tour. Video courtesy: If Stockholm Open
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Marcos Baghdatis, the 2009 champion, recorded his first win over Sam Querrey in their fourth meeting on Tuesday at the If Stockholm Open. Baghdatis lost seven of his first service points in a 7-6(2), 6-1 victory over 77 minutes and will now face Bernard Tomic.
Seventh seed Jack Sock struck 11 aces to beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-3 in two hours and nine minutes for a second-round match against Fernando Verdasco. “It’s good to be back, as this is one of my favourite tournaments of the year,” said Sock. “It was a tough one today. It’s been my most successful season so far, winning my first title and being more consistent. I do like playing (Fernando), but it will be like a chess match out there.”
Eighth seed Gilles Muller saved eight of 10 break points and fired down 16 aces in a 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1 win over qualifier Mischa Zverev. Steve Darcis will face Richard Gasquet, who is No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, after he defeated Adrian Mannarino 7-6(4), 6-4.
Watch Tuesday highlights from Vienna as David Ferrer, John Isner and Gael Monfils advance. Watch live matches at TennisTV.com
ATP World Tour Uncovered goes behind the scenes at the 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters, featuring interviews Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych and Andy Murray.
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