Tennis News

From around the world

Gasquet Saves Match Point To Thwart Karlovic

Gasquet Saves Match Point To Thwart Karlovic

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Richard Gasquet was living on the edge in Basel as he kept alive his slim chance of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Frenchman saved one match point to defeat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(6) in the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-finals on Friday.

Gasquet must win the Basel title and next week’s BNP Paribas Masters in Paris to stand a chance of grabbing one of the final two berths at the Final Showdown, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori are currently ahead of the ninth-placed Frenchman in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Karlovic had his chance to claim victory when he led 6-5 in the deciding tie-break, but Gasquet held his nerve and won the final three points to prevail in two hours and 26 minutes. The 36-year-old Karlovic dropped to a 0-9 mark this season in deciding tie-breaks and to a 301-301 career tie-break record. Gasquet, meanwhile, is 4-0 in deciding tie-breaks in 2015.

The 29-year-old Gasquet is a two-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season, lifting trophies in Estoril (d. Kyrgios) and Montpellier (d. Janowicz). The right-hander goes on to face Rafael Nadal or Marin Cilic.

More stories like this in:

Source link

Pospisil Beats Brands To Reach Valencia Semis

Pospisil Beats Brands To Reach Valencia Semis

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Vasek Pospisil is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final in 14 months after beating Daniel Brands 6-3, 6-3 at the Valencia Open on Friday.

The Canadian notched his 25th win of the season as he broke Brands three times for victory in 74 minutes. Pospisil reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final earlier in the year at Wimbledon (l. to Murray) and also reached the last eight in Atlanta (l. to Baghdatis) and Kuala Lumpur (l. to Lopez).

Pospisil will look to reach his second ATP World Tour final when he faces Joao Sousa on Saturday. The Vernon native finished runner-up to countryman Milos Raonic in his maiden final at the Citi Open in Washington in August 2014.

Sousa saved all five break points he faced to defeat Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 32 minutes. The Portuguese will face Pospisil for the second time this season, having beaten the Canadian in the first round at Roland Garros.

The 26-year-old Sousa is bidding to reach his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season after runner-up finishes in Geneva (l. to Bellucci), Umag (l. to Thiem) and St. Petersburg (l. to Raonic). He has compiled a 36-31 record in his career-best season.

 

More stories like this in:

Source link

Federer Highlights Basel Thursday Action

Federer Highlights Basel Thursday Action

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Watch highlights as Roger Federer moves on in Basel. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

require([“modules/global/rolexAd”], function(RolexAd) return new RolexAd( analytics: gaCategory: “Outbound”, gaCategoryInner: “Rolex Clock”, gaClickAction: “Click”, gaToggleAction: “Toggle”, ); );

Source link

Federer And Nadal Win On Friday In Basel 2015

Federer And Nadal Win On Friday In Basel 2015

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Watch highlights as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal come through in three-setters. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

require([“modules/global/rolexAd”], function(RolexAd) return new RolexAd( analytics: gaCategory: “Outbound”, gaCategoryInner: “Rolex Clock”, gaClickAction: “Click”, gaToggleAction: “Toggle”, ); );

Source link

Home Fans Lifting Federer In Basel

Home Fans Lifting Federer In Basel

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Six-time champion Roger Federer is in familiar territory, back in the Swiss Indoors Basel semis after downing David Goffin.

require([“modules/global/rolexAd”], function(RolexAd) return new RolexAd( analytics: gaCategory: “Outbound”, gaCategoryInner: “Rolex Clock”, gaClickAction: “Click”, gaToggleAction: “Toggle”, ); );

Source link

Nadal On Track In Basel

Nadal On Track In Basel

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

For the third straight match, Rafael Nadal pulled through in three sets at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

require([“modules/global/rolexAd”], function(RolexAd) return new RolexAd( analytics: gaCategory: “Outbound”, gaCategoryInner: “Rolex Clock”, gaClickAction: “Click”, gaToggleAction: “Toggle”, ); );

Source link

Federer Finesses Hot Shot In Basel

Federer Finesses Hot Shot In Basel

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Watch Hot Shot as Roger Federer finds the line with a delicate backhand slice. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com

require([“modules/global/rolexAd”], function(RolexAd) return new RolexAd( analytics: gaCategory: “Outbound”, gaCategoryInner: “Rolex Clock”, gaClickAction: “Click”, gaToggleAction: “Toggle”, ); );

Source link

Karlovic Digs Out Hot Shot In Basel

Karlovic Digs Out Hot Shot In Basel

  • Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Watch Hot Shot as Ivo Karlovic surprises Richard Gasquet with quick feet and quick thinking. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

require([“modules/global/rolexAd”], function(RolexAd) return new RolexAd( analytics: gaCategory: “Outbound”, gaCategoryInner: “Rolex Clock”, gaClickAction: “Click”, gaToggleAction: “Toggle”, ); );

Source link

Sousa, Johnson Reach Valencia QFs

Sousa, Johnson Reach Valencia QFs

  • Posted: Oct 29, 2015

Steve Johnson maintained his run of form on Thursday by recording his 35th match win of 2015 for a place in the Valencia Open quarter-finals against sixth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or qualifier Taro Daniel.

Johnson, who finished runner-up to David Ferrer in last week’s Vienna final, defeated second seed Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-6(3) in 75 minutes. Johnson came within two points of winning when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Lopez broke back to force a tie-break. Lopez recovered from 0/3 to 3/3 in the tie-break, but lost the next four points.

Qualfier Mischa Zverev reached his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season by beating fourth seed Fabio Fognini, ranked 197 places higher than him in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 6-2, 7-6(3) in 78 minutes. Zverev will next face seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who kept home hopes alive with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over wild card Andrey Rublev.

Another qualifier, Daniel Brands, lost just five of his service points in a 6-2, 6-2 win over lucky loser Albert Montanes, a replacement for top seed and three-time champion David Ferrer. He’ll play Vasek Pospisil on Friday.

Later in the day, Joao Sousa converted five of his 18 break point opportunities to oust fifth seed Benoit Paire 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Doubles Seeds Fall In Valencia

The No. 2-seeded duo of Lukasz Kubot and Leander Paes were upset by Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 7-6(6), 6-4, and Americans Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky were 6-4, 6-3 winners over Andre Bergemann and Artem Sitak.

More stories like this in:

Source link

Young Too Strong For Anderson In Basel

Young Too Strong For Anderson In Basel

  • Posted: Oct 29, 2015

Donald Young proved to be too good for fourth seed Kevin Anderson on Thursday in a 6-2, 7-6(6) win at the Swiss Indoors Basel. It was his third best win of the season, following on from victories over No. 6-ranked Tomas Berdych at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and No. 11-ranked Gilles Simon in the US Open first round.

Young now faces fellow American Jack Sock, who withstood 14 aces from compatriot and sixth seed John Isner‘s racquet in a 7-6(5), 6-3 win. The last time two Americans reached the Basel quarter-finals was 1994 when Patrick McEnroe reached the final (l. to Ferreira) and Jared Palmer reached the semi-finals (l. to Forget).

“Those matches are never fun, playing one of your best friends on the tour,” said Sock on facing Isner. “It never sits to well after the match. It’s part of the game. Somebody’s got to win. He’s done it to me a few times. Fortunately, today I was able to get through.”

No. 5 seed Richard Gasquet kept his hopes alive for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday with a 7-6(1), 6-4 victory over Dominic Thiem.

Now into the quarter-finals, where he’ll face Ivo Karlovic, Gasquet must win titles at Basel and the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris (Nov. 2-8) to qualify. A loss at any point would mean that David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori would secure the two remaining spots in the eight-man field.

This first career FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between these one-handed backhanders saw Gasquet and Thiem test each other early, Thiem registering a break to open the match. But Thiem, at 22 the youngest player in Top 20, couldn’t hold the lead and the Frenchman would claim the set in a one-sided tie-breaker. It was Thiem’s serve that let him down the most in the opening stanza, as the Austrian would land just 48 per cent of his first offerings.

The 29-year-old Gasquet would carry that momentum into the second set, consolidating an early break to jump out to a 2-0 advantage. He would never look back.

With 11 days remaining in the Emirates ATP Race to London, two spots are still up for grabs at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be played at London’s O2 Nov. 15-22. The top eight players in the race will compete at the year-end championships. Six players have qualified so far: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. Ferrer and Nishikori are next in line to qualify. Only Gasquet is capable of passing either player.

Seventh seed Marin Cilic set up a meeting against third seed Rafael Nadal following a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Teymuraz Gabashvili in 75 minutes. Nadal leads Cilic 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with their last meeting coming in May 2011 and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Doubles Seeds Advance in Basel

No. 2 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau defeated Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez 7-5, 7-6(5), while Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt took down Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 4-6, 6-3, 10-5. 

Source link