Troicki, Stakhovsky, Darcis Aim To Qualify For Roland Garros Main Draw
Troicki, Stakhovsky, Darcis Aim To Qualify For Roland Garros Main Draw
Garcia-Lopez looks to maintain record of main draw participation since 2004
Three ATP Tour veterans — Viktor Troicki, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Steve Darcis — will all be bidding to qualify on Thursday to compete in the Roland Garros main draw for a 10th time.
Former World No. 12 Troicki overcame Australia’s Jason Kubler 6-1, 7-6(9) in 86 minutes, saving two set points at 7/8 and 8/9 in the second set tie-break, on Wednesday. The Serbian will now prepare to face France’s Alexandre Muller in the qualifying round.
Sixth-seeded Ukrainian Stakhovsky struck 43 winners to beat Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus 7-5, 6-4, saving one set point at 5/6 in the second set tie-break for a match against Russia’s Alexey Vatutin.
Belgium’s Steve Darcis, 35, recorded a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Corentin Denolly of France in one hour and 44 minutes to set up a clash against Italian No. 13 seed Stefano Travaglia, who was a 6-4, 6-4 victor over Nino Serdarusic of Croatia.
Top-seeded American Tennys Sandgren, who is aiming to play in the main draw for the third straight year, swept past Germany’s Mats Moraing 6-2, 6-2 in 60 minutes, winning 40 of 46 first-service points for a match against Mathias Bourgue of France.
Spanish 12th seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez struck 38 winners, including 15 aces, in a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Serbia’s Pedja Krstin in one hour and 46 minutes. Garcia-Lopez has played in the main draw ever since his debut in 2004, including a career-best run to the fourth round (l. to Monfils). He’ll play German No. 23 seed Oscar Otte on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Dustin Brown was solid on serve — winning 28 of 31 first-service points—and hitting 31 winners in a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Emilio Gomez of Ecuador in 69 minutes. The German next faces No. 31 seed Salvatore Caruso of Italy.
Lukas Rosol, the Czech No. 19 seed who has not played in the main draw since 2016, blasted past American Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-4 with 29 winners to play Yannick Hanfmann in the qualifying round. Swiss fourth seed Henri Laaksonen, who has been unlucky in qualifying on four occasions, grafted for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Facundo Arguello of Argentina in one hour and 55 minutes.