US second seed Mardy Fish saved three match points in a tie-breaker and rallied to defeat Australian Chris Guccione 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (14/12), 6-4 and reach the ATP Los Angeles Open quarter-finals.
Fish survived a 16-minute tie-breaker in the second set by denying the Aussie on three match points, the last on a backhand drop volley winner to reach 10-10, and taking his fourth set point when Guccione hit a forehand long.
Fish then broke Guccione to open the third set, the only service break either man surrendered, and then served out to advance at the hard court tuneup event for the US Open.
PHOTO: AP
Next up for Fish is Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, who ousted Russian fifth seed Igor Kunitsyn 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (7/9), 6-3.
Fish, who held at love in the final game of the match, won a title last March at Delray Beach, Florida, and battled back after a weak start.
Guccione took the first set on a backhand winner, capturing the last four points of the tie-breaker, and jumped ahead 3-0 in the second set tie-breaker, before Fish took the next four points, the last on a double fault after an ace for Guccione was overturned on appeal.
Fish denied Guccione’s first match point with a service winner to reach 6-6 and his second opportunity with a forehand winner to 8-8, setting the stage for his drop volley rescue and eventual fightback to victory.
Israeli fourth seed Dudi Sela, who helped his homeland upset Russia in a Davis Cup quarter-final earlier this month before making a second-round exit last week at Indianapolis, defeated American Robert Kendrick 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Sela, who reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon, will next face US sixth seed Sam Querrey, who ousted American qualifier Ryan Sweeting 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.
Querrey, runner-up at Newport and Indy the past two weeks, dropped the first five games of the second set, then won the next five and, while he dropped the tie-breaker, an early service break in the third sparked the win.
“I kind of lost focus in the second set, then I think he kind of lost focus,” Querrey said. “He let me right back into it, without me really playing well, then he picked it up in the tie-breaker. You’ve just got to stay positive and bounce back, and I thought I did a good job of that in the third set.”
German top seed Tommy Haas and Russian eighth seed Marat Safin will meet to decide who plays the Querrey-Sela winner in the semi-finals.
■BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC
AP, STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic rallied to beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Bank of the West Classic on Thursday.
Jankovic, seeded fourth and ranked No. 6, joins Serena and Venus Williams in the final eight, giving the Stanford event one of its most prestigious quarter-finals.
Wimbledon champion Serena Williams advanced after beating Hungary’s Melinda Czink 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) and Venus Williams got by qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-3, 7-5, setting up an evening showdown with Maria Sharapova, who continues her comeback from right shoulder surgery.
Eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France advanced with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over qualifier Melanie Oudin of the US and will meet Jankovic.
“There should be a lot of good tennis,” Bartoli said. “I always beat Jankovic, so who do you think I want to play?”
Jankovic was less than impressed with Bartoli’s comments.
“She talks like she’s Serena Williams,” Jankovic said. “Who is she? She’s just another player on the tour.”
Lisicki had seven aces, but also committed 11 double faults and managed to put her first serve in play about half the time.
Serena Williams, seeded first and ranked No. 2, has won nine straight matches and 13 of 14 overall. She next plays Australia’s Samantha Stosur.
“It should be a good match,” Serena Williams said. “She’s improved tons; leaps and bounds. I’ve been a little bit off this whole week. I hope I can get back on.”
Serena Williams finished with 10 aces on Thursday and brushed past her opponent in the first set. Czink, a left-hander, played a stronger second set in forcing Serena Williams to a tie-breaker in a match that lasted nearly two hours.
Serena Williams adjusted to a shorter toss on her serve at the beginning of the match because of a bright noon sun.
“It only affected four or five games, but those games could be crucial,” she said. “I made some key errors, so it was good I ended up winning.”
Venus Williams, seeded second and ranked No. 3, joined her younger sister in the quarter-finals, needing just over an hour to get by Kudryavtseva.
“I’m excited. I love playing against her and it’s been a while,” Sharapova said on Wednesday.Sharapova has won three of the five previous meetings, the last a three-set win in 2007 at Miami. Venus Williams’ only two wins have come at Wimbledon in 2005 and 2007.
■CROATIA OPEN
AP, UMAG, CROATIA
Fresh off winning the German Open last weekend, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko eased into the Croatia Open quarter-finals by beating Alberto Martin of Spain 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday.
Davydenko’s victory in Hamburg was his 15th career title and returned him to the top 10 at No. 9. After being injured for nearly the first four months, the Russian has won 15 of his last 18 matches.
In the quarter-finals, he will face Simone Bolelli of Italy, who defeated compatriot Fabio Fognini, 6-3, 6-4.
Fifth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero overcame Potito Starace of Italy 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in what he hopes will become a nice coincidence.
Ferrero won his first ATP title in six years in April at Casablanca, and in both Casablanca and Umag he defeated Christophe Rochus of Belgium in the first round and Starace in the second round.
However, his quarter-final opponent will be different. The former No. 1 will meet Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina, who ousted Oscar Hernandez of Spain 6-4, 6-4.
Fourth-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria beat Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-3, reversing a loss to the Uruguayan last week in Hamburg.
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