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'Fighting back the tears' – Alex wins battle of Zverevs in Washington

  • Posted: Aug 03, 2018

Mischa Zverev said he had to “fight back tears” prior to his third-round defeat by younger brother and world number three Alexander Zverev at the Washington Open.

Defending champion Alexander, 21, won 6-3 7-5 in what was the first ATP Tour meeting between the German siblings.

They had previously met on two occasions: the last at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in 2014.

“I needed a few seconds to actually bite my tongue and focus,” said Mischa.

“It was very emotional for me. It was just a great day.”

Alexander will play Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals after the Japanese seventh seed defeated Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (7-1) 6-3.

Speaking about his victory over his brother, Alexander said: “We played near our best. It was unbelievable.

“I just hope it happens again and I hope it happens at later stages of bigger tournaments. I hope we meet again someday in a final.”

Later on Thursday, the brothers teamed up to complete their rain-delayed first-round doubles match, in which they defeated top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-1 6-4.

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Silicon Valley Classic: Heather Watson loses to Venus Williams in last 16

  • Posted: Aug 03, 2018

British number three Heather Watson lost to seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the last 16 of the Silicon Valley Classic in California.

American third seed Williams, 38, won 6-4 4-6 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals and is the highest remaining seed.

Defending champion Madison Keys withdrew on Thursday with a wrist injury, while top seed Garbine Muguruza pulled out earlier in the week.

World number 14 Williams will face Greece’s Maria Sakkari next.

Meanwhile, British number two Katie Boulter is out of the Citi Open in Washington after losing in three sets to qualifier Allie Kiick in the last 16.

Boulter, 22, who knocked out fifth seed Aleksandra Krunic in the first round, lost 4-6 7-5 1-6 to American Kiick.

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Los Cabos Open: Cameron Norrie reaches semi-finals in Mexico

  • Posted: Aug 03, 2018

British number two Cameron Norrie reached his second successive semi-final by beating Adrian Mannarino at the Los Cabos Open in Mexico.

The 22-year-old won 6-4 6-4 against the French world number 25, who was seeded fourth.

It is Norrie’s third ATP World Tour semi-final, after reaching the last four at the Atlanta Open last week.

He will face 31-year-old Italian second seed and world number 15 Fabio Fognini on Saturday (not before 02:30 BST).

Argentine top seed and world number four Juan Martin del Potro will play Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur in the other semi-final.

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Jarry Breaks New Ground, Reaches Kitzbühel Semi-finals

  • Posted: Aug 02, 2018

Jarry Breaks New Ground, Reaches Kitzbühel Semi-finals

Istomin, Munar both win in straight sets

Chile’s Nicolas Jarry will break into the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings for the first time on 6 August after reaching the semi-finals of the Generali Open.

The 22-year-old grandson of former World No. 14 Jaime Fillol continued his run in Kitzbühel by beating last week’s J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad champion Matteo Berrettini of Italy 7-5, 6-3 in 84 minutes on Friday. Jarry, competing this week at a career-high No. 53, started the year at No. 113 in the ATP Rankings. 

“I am very happy as I am playing very well,” said Jarry. “I am very calm and focused at the right moments and I’ve handled the pressure well. I haven’t been broken a lot, which has helped my confidence and every game I’m returning and playing from the baseline better.” 

Jarry will now prepare to meet Uzbekistani qualifier Denis Istomin, who was solid on serve to beat sixth seed Maximilian Marterer of Germany 6-3, 6-3 in 66minutes. The World No. 95 is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since October 2017, when he advanced to the Chengdu Open final (d. Baghdatis).

Spaniard Jaume Munar, who was at No. 200 on 2 April, moved into his first ATP World Tour semi-final by beating Taro Daniel of Japan 7-6(3), 6-3 in two hours. Daniel won his first ATP World Tour crown in May at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (d. Jaziri).

The World No. 88 awaits the winner of Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan and eighth seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.

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Jebavy/Molteni Upset In-Form Top Seeds
Roman Jebavy and Andres Molteni ended the nine-match winning streak of top seeds Julio Peralta, which includes back-to-back tour-level titles, in a 6-3, 7-5 quarter-final win over 73 minutes.

Peralta and Zeballos came into the ATP World Tour 250 tournament on the back of trophies at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Bolelli-Fognini) and the German Tennis Championships 2018 presented by Kampmann (d. Marach-Pavic). 

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Paire fined £12,500 for smashing racquets on court

  • Posted: Aug 02, 2018

France’s Benoit Paire has been fined $16,500 (£12,500) after smashing three racquets during an on-court tantrum.

Paire, 29, lost his temper after missing a shot as he trailed Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 5-2 in the final set of his 6-3 3-6 6-2 first-round defeat at the Washington Open on Tuesday.

He was sanctioned for an audible obscenity, unsportsmanlike conduct and a lack of giving best effort.

“Yes, yes it’s true I got upset yesterday,” he wrote on Instagram.

“What I remember is that I’m on the right track and I’m progressing since the beginning of the year so for those who want to stay on it there’s no problem but I have already moved on.”

The ATP fine is more than double the appearance money he made at the tournament.

The world number 55 smashed his racquet on the ground several times after surrendering the chance to break Baghdatis, then hurled two more racquets across the court as his opponent attempted to calm him down.

He then walked to his chair and kicked it before smashing another racquet into the ground.

Paire next made no effort to return a Baghdatis serve then smashed another racquet before shaking hands.

He was booed off court by spectators – and blew kisses to the crowd as he headed to the dressing room.

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Murray beats fellow Briton Edmund in Washington

  • Posted: Aug 02, 2018

Former world number one Andy Murray took another big step in his comeback from hip surgery by beating fellow Briton Kyle Edmund in the second round of the Washington Open.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray beat British number one Edmund 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-4.

He will play Romania’s Marius Copil in the third round.

“It was much better, just in terms of the way I actually played the match,” said the Scot, 31.

“Regardless of the result, we wanted to at least be dictating more points, trying to use my forehand, be closer to the baseline.

“I think I did that, especially in some of the important moments in the third set. I was being more offensive.”

  • Konta reaches third round in California
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Edmund beat Murray at Eastbourne in June – in the third match of his return during the grass-court season – before the world number 832 pulled out of Wimbledon.

Edmund, 23, said: “I gave my best of what I had on the day, it just didn’t work out. It would have been nice to hold serve and maybe even control what I can and take [the third set] to a tie-break but it didn’t happen.”

Elsewhere in Washington, defending champion and world number three Alex Zverev beat Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-2 6-1 and will play his brother Mischa in the third round.

After five years together on the ATP Tour, this will be their first meeting on court.

“It’s going to be very interesting for me. It will be a special day,” said Alex Zverev. “Not many families can say they have two players playing at this level.”

Belgian third seed David Goffin survived a scare against France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert to win 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-5) while Japan’s Kei Nishikori beat American qualifier Donald Young for the second year in a row, winning 6-3 6-4.

He will face Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the next round, while Goffin plays American Frances Tiafoe.

Fifth seed Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the tournament with a hip injury, having retired during his Atlanta Open quarter-final last week.

Elsewhere, British number two Cameron Norrie is through to the quarter-finals of the Los Cabos Open in Mexico, following a 6-3 6-3 victory over Spanish eighth seed Feliciano Lopez.

Norrie, 22, will play Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the last eight.

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Johanna Konta reaches third round of Silicon Valley Classic

  • Posted: Aug 02, 2018

Johanna Konta eased past American Sofia Kenin to reach the quarter-finals of the Silicon Valley Classic.

A day after inflicting the worst defeat of Serena Williams’ career, British number one Konta struck nine aces in a 6-1 6-4 victory.

“I approached the match as a separate challenge,” said Konta, 27. “Every tournament that I go into, I want to be there until the very end.”

Konta will face fourth seed Elise Mertens of Belgium next.

Mertens reached the last eight with a 6-2 6-0 victory over American wildcard Ashley Kratzer.

Konta added: “[Mertens is] a great player. She has been playing very well consistently this season, and that is a big task and she is been doing that so well.”

  • Murray continues comeback with win over Edmund
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Spain’s top seed Garbine Muguruza withdrew before her second-round match against former world number one Victoria Azarenka because of an arm injury.

Belarusian Azarenka instead faced lucky loser Anna Blinkova, 19, of Russia and needed less than an hour to complete a 6-1 6-0 thrashing. She plays Danielle Collins next.

Boulter heading out? Citi Open results

At the Citi Open in Washington, Britain’s Katie Boulter was 6-4 4-4 down on American Allie Kiick in their second-round tie before play was suspended due to rain.

Sloane Stephens’ preparations for her US Open title defence suffered a setback when she was shocked 2-6 6-4 6-2 by German Andrea Petkovic.

In the men’s draw, former world number one Andy Murray took another big step in his comeback from hip surgery by beating fellow Briton Kyle Edmund 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-4 to reach the third round.

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