French top seed Gael Monfils won two matches in 10 hours on Thursday, ousting Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 7-6 (11/9) in the latter to reach the quarter-finals of the US$1.4 million ATP Washington Classic.
Seventh-ranked Monfils, a French Open quarter-finalist, had earlier fired 17 aces in downing American Ryan Sweeting 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), his twice-in-a-day feat of endurance necessitated by rain on Wednesday that resulted in the postponement of six matches.
“I’m in good shape,” Monfils said. “I come from the clay season so I’m used to having long matches.”
Monfils must win five matches in four days here to claim his fourth career ATP crown after titles last year at Montpelier, in 2009 at Metz and in 2005 at Sopot. His only outdoor hardcourt final since 2006 was last year in Tokyo.
Serbian sixth seed Janko Tipsarevic, the next opponent for Monfils, and Cypriot seventh seed Marcos Baghdatis, who went six sets in one day for the first time, also won twice on Thursday to book last-eight berths at the US Open tuneup event.
“It’s good to finish six sets and physical-wise I feel good,” Baghdatis said. “You know you can do it, but it’s nice to achieve that.”
World No. 45 Tursunov, who won his seventh career ATP title last month at Rosmalen, was denied on all three break chances against Monfils in the first set, which took only 33 of the match’s 99 minutes.
Tursunov broke Monfils to level the second set 2-2 and they battled to a tie-break.
Monfils squandered three match points, sending two forehands and a backhand beyond the baseline. Turnsunov hit a backhand long on his only set point and Monfils took the match two points later when the Russian sent a forehand wide.
“For sure it’s better for the next match for the recovery not to go three sets,” Monfils said. “I can handle six sets in a day so it’s OK for me.”
In his opener, Monfils connected on 71 percent of his first serves and dazzled 66th-ranked Sweeting, who at times could only marvel at the moves of the lanky Frenchman, who hit shots behind-the-back and after astonishing leaps.
“He’s just so athletic. I was laughing because it was so amazing,” Sweeting said. “Sometimes I respected his speed too much, but the main factor was how well he served. He was placing it really well. It was pretty tough to read.”
Monfils, 24, split with Australian coach Roger Rasheed after Wimbledon and has made fitness coach Patrick Chamagne his overall coach.
“We both wanted different goals,” Monfils said of Rasheed. “Now [Chamagne] is the main coach. I think he can handle it. I can trust in him.”
Tipsarevic, 27, ousted Germany’s Michael Berrer 6-3, 6-4, in the afternoon and dispatched Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 in the nightcap to book a date with the Frenchman.
Monfils, a 2007 semi-finalist in his only prior Washington event, is 3-2 lifetime against the Serb, winning their past two meetings in last year’s US Open third round and the Davis Cup finals.
“It was more pressure when we played there and in the US Open it was very tough,” Monfils said. “I’ll try to be aggressive, make him make mistakes.”
Baghdatis, last year’s Washington runner-up, defeated reigning Commonwealth Games and Asian Games champion Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 0-6, 7-5 and later outlasted Brazil’s Tomaz Bellucci 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Baghdatis will next face Donald Young, a 22-year-old American who beat compatriot Michael Russell 6-3, 6-3, avenging a loss two weeks ago at Atlanta to reach only his second ATP quarter-final, the first since 2008 at Memphis.
Spanish fifth seed Fernando Verdasco snapped a four-match losing streak to Russian Nikolay Davydenko with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph. Verdasco next faces Czech Radek Stepanek, who beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
John Isner outlasted pal and neighbor James Blake 7-6 (7/0), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4).
Isner, trying to reach his third final in a row after winning at Newport and losing to Mardy Fish at Atlanta, will next face Serbian third seed Viktor Troicki, who eliminated South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3.
BET-AT-HOME CUP
AP, KITZBUEHEL, Austria
Top-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Bet-at-Home Cup.
The 23rd-ranked Argentine will take on Albert Montanes of Spain for a place in the final. Robin Haase of the Netherlands and Joao Souza of Brazil compete in the second semifinal.
Chela dropped just three points on serve to take the first set, but was broken in the opening game of the second.
The seventh-seeded Granollers, who was on a seven-match winning streak following his victory in Gstaad last week, got treatment for a sore right arm muscle and lost control of the second set.
“The result looks easy but it was tough. I am happy to win it in straight sets,” Chela said.
The 50th-ranked Montanes downed Santiago Giraldo of -Colombia 6-1, 7-6 (7/0) to advance to his second semifinal of the season.
Haase defeated sixth-seeded Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-2 to reach his second career semifinal.
The Dutchman needed eight set points to close out the opening set but converted his first match point against the Italian, who won just two service games.
“I played too defensively from the start but he helped me with some mistakes and I was more aggressive in the second set,” said the 53rd-ranked Haase, who reached the semifinals at the Dutch Open in 2007.
Souza, a qualifier ranked 110th, beat No. 8 Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 6-4 to reach his second semifinal of the season after Santiago, Chile in February.
Earlier on Thursday, Haase rallied to beat second-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match.
Haase and Lopez were even at 1-1 in the final set when rain interrupted play on Wednesday. Haase broke Lopez in the first game after resuming and closed out the win when the Spaniard double-faulted on match point.
Andujar routed fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos 6-2, 6-1, and Souza defeated Diego Junqueira of Argentina 6-2, 6-2. Junqueira replaced No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic, who pulled out of the event with a back injury.
Montanes downed No. 5 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 7-5 and Granollers defeated Croatian qualifier Antonio Veic 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
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