Top seed Gael Monfils stayed on course for a third ATP title with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over friend and fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna in their SA Tennis Open second-round tie on Thursday.
Paris-born Monfils, who has won tournaments in Poland and his homeland, is ranked 13th in the world, 108 places above Ouanna from the town of Tours, 200km southwest of the French capital. That huge gap was never evident at the Montecasino Entertainment Centre, however, as Monfils took 79 minutes to subdue his former French tennis academy roommate.
Monfils, who is hoping to emulate compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and collect the US$80,000 first prize tomorrow, triumphed because he served better and produced several timely top-drawer strokes, but it was not a vintage performance from the 23-year-old Frenchman, who committed 37 unforced errors in perfect conditions after rain and thunder forced an afternoon delay.
While the potent Monfils service delivered 12 aces, he would have been concerned by six double-faults ahead of a last-eight duel against Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun.
“It was tough playing against someone I once shared a room with and I am happy to have succeeded,” Monfils said.
The other three second round ties were also settled in straight sets, with seeds David Ferrer (No. 2) of Spain, Lu (No. 7) and India Davis Cup star Somdev Devverman progressing.
■ZAGREB INDOORS
AP, ZAGREB
Defending champion Marin Cilic cruised into the quarter-finals of the Zagreb Indoors on Thursday by defeating Daniel Koellerer of Austria 6-2, 6-1.
The top-seeded Croat dropped only seven points on serve and after two matches at the tournament, Cilic has spent only 1 hour, 57 minutes on court.
It has been a good season for the 22-year-old Cilic so far. He won the ATP tournament in Chennai, India, last month and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last week.
Cilic will next face another local player in Ivo Karlovic, who defeated French qualifier Alexandre Sidorenko 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (10/8).
Lukas Lacko of Slovakia also reached the quarter-finals, ousting 2006 champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 7-6 (7/5).
Lacko will play Philipp Petzschner of Germany, who defeated compatriot Benjamin Becker 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6) after saving match point in the third-set tie-breaker.
Germany’s Michael Berrer also advanced after beating Croatia’s Petar Jelenic 6-4, 6-3.
■MOVISTAR OPEN
AP, SANTIAGO
Third-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil won a three-hour match against Chile’s Paul Capdeville 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Movistar Open in Santiago.
In Thursday’s other matches, second-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina beat compatriot Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 7-5, while Peter Luczak of Australia also advanced to the quarter-finals, beating David Marrero of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
Former champion Jose Acasuso of Argentina retired injured during his second-round match. Acasuso won the first set from Eduardo Schwank 7-6 (7/3), but was injured in the second and retired hurt.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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