Mannarino Overcomes Powerful Groth In Newport
Mannarino Overcomes Powerful Groth In Newport
Frenchman into quarter-finals
Adrian Mannarino topped big-serving Sam Groth 7-6(6), 6-3 in the second round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Thursday. The sixth-seeded Frenchman was patient, overcoming a two-break deficit in the first set, then out-waiting a long rain delay before closing out the win in 92 minutes. Groth hit nine aces and won 22 of 25 first-serve points, but only landed 40 per cent of first serves and was broken three times by the consistent left-hander.
“His second serve is faster than my first serve, so you never know what to expect with him,” said Mannarino, who secured the opening tie-break 8-6 before the players were forced off the court due to inclement weather. “I think he got a little bit too relaxed on his serve at 5-1 and they key for me was his service game at 5-3. I was able to return well and then was really consistent in the second set after we came back from the rain delay.”
In the quarter-finals, Mannarino will face another strong server in the form of No. 3 seed Gilles Muller. Muller edged Victor Estrella Burgos 7-6(7), 6-4 to improve to 2-0 in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.
“I was up a break up twice in the [first] set and had many set points in the tie-break. It was frustrating that I couldn’t take those chances, but I told myself to stay calm. If I kept playing the way I was playing, I knew I would get more chances,” said Muller. The left-hander from Luxembourg, who fired 11 aces and went 3-for-10 on break points, has never dropped a set against the Dominican. The win was Muller’s first in Newport (1-3). He improved to 11-4 on grass this season and is into his fourth grass-court quarter-final of the year (‘s-Hertogenbosch, Queen’s and Nottingham).
Skupskis Win In Doubles
Brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski, seeded third, overcame a late challenge from Brian Baker and Rajeev Ram to win 7-6(4), 3-6, 10-6. The Brits will face second seeds Groth and Chris Guccione in the semi-finals.
Adil Shamasdin and Jonathan Marray eased into the semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Brydan Klein and Yuichi Sugita. Shamasdin/Marray did not hit an ace, but won 12 of 14 second-serve points and did not drop serve in the 46-minute win.