Uruguayan going for third ATP World Tour title of the season
Pablo Cuevas reached the quarter-finals of the German Tennis Championships 2016 on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro. Cuevas, the third seed, won 85 per cent of his serve points (33/39) and erased his only break point faced.
The 30-year-old Uruguayan earned four breaks against the 22-year-old qualifier. Monteiro also had to serve almost more than double the number of points – 69 – than Cuevas – 39.
“I played so good today,” Cuevas said. “He’s a good player.”
Cuevas, No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has had good luck this season when beating Monteiro in a tournament. He beat the left-hander at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in February, and both times, Cuevas went on to win the tournaments. The 30 year old has won five ATP World Tour titles, all on clay. He next will face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who outlasted Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 in two hours and 49 minutes. Mathieu saved 11 of 14 break points faced, including all seven in the second set.
Home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber overcame a slow start to move into the quarter-finals. The top seed dispatched Argentine Nicolas Kicker 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 51 minutes. The top German was broken twice in the first set but only once in the remaining two sets.
Kohlschreiber, No. 22 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is vying to become the first German winner in Hamburg since current tournament director Michael Stich in 1993. Five of Kohlschreiber’s seven ATP World Tour titles have come in Germany, including the BMW Open by FWU AG in May (d. Thiem).
Kohlschreiber next will face Argentine Renzo Olivo, who swept compatriot Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4. The 24-year-old Olivo, No. 153 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, erased all three break points to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour 500 event for the first time.
| Davis Cup: Serbia v Great Britain |
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| Venue: Tasmajdan Stadium, Belgrade Dates: 15-17 July |
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Kyle Edmund and James Ward are expected to play singles for Great Britain in this week’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia.
Andy Murray said it is “unlikely” he will play after winning Wimbledon for the second time on Sunday. But the world number two will travel to Belgrade as a spectator.
Britain’s world number 73 Dan Evans will miss out with a shoulder problem.
Edmund is 67 in the world rankings, but Ward has fallen to number 240.
Murray won all eight of his singles rubbers during Great Britain’s Davis Cup victory last year and contributed to 11 of their 12 points.
Edmund made his debut in last year’s final against Belgium, while Ward earned a crucial win against American John Isner in the first round last year.
World number one Novak Djokovic, beaten in the third round at Wimbledon, has already withdrawn from the Serbia team.
Americans Kozlov, Baker also advance on Tuesday
Sixth seed Adrian Mannarino won 122 points in his first-round match at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport on Tuesday. His opponent, Aussie wild card James Duckworth, won 124.
But in tennis, not all points are created equal, and it was the 28-year-old Frenchman who won the biggest points to move into the second round 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 7-6(4).
The two-hour and 35-minute match was about as close as they come. Both players lost their serve exactly four times. But in the two set tie-breaks that Mannarino won, he suffered exactly one less mini-break than Duckworth. The left-handed Mannarino also took full advantage of the two opportunities he had to serve out the tie-breaks.
He next will face Aussie Sam Groth, who hit 23 aces to beat Polish qualifier Michal Przysiezny 7-6(2), 6-4.
American wild card Stefan Kozlov earned his third ATP World Tour match win with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over German veteran Benjamin Becker. The 17 year old next will face countryman Donald Young.
Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic swept American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4. Dancevic’s reward for winning three consecutive matches, including qualifying? A second-round match-up with big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic, a two-time Newport finalist.
In a battle of Aussies, John-Patrick Smith got the better of Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4. In the second round, Smith will face 34-year-old Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, who prevailed against American qualifier Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 7-6(6).
Brian Baker won the all-American battle against Austin Krajicek 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. “It’s just one of those matches where you just have to compete pretty hard and take advantage of some break points when you get them,” said Baker, who saved five of six break points and converted three.
The 31-year-old qualifier, who’s had 11 surgeries since 1999, will face fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis in the second round for the first time. Baghdatis, who made the quarter-finals on the grass in Halle and Nottingham, is making his Newport debut.
In doubles, Baker teamed up with Wimbledon doubles semi-finalist Rajeev Ram to sweep Young and South African Dean O’Brien 6-3, 7-5 in 62 minutes. Fourth seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan, both of India, advanced with a 2-6, 6-3 10-6 win against Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic and American John Paul Fruttero.
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The richest purse in the history of tennis will be on offer at this year’s US Open.
Prize money for the event will be $46.3m (£35m) – an increase of $4m (£3m) on the 2015 event.
Both the men’s and women’s singles champions will earn $3.5m (£2.6m) – a record payout for the tournament, which runs from 29 August to 11 September.
The average increase per round for the singles competition is 10% above the 2015 US Open.