Last year’s runner-up Robin Haase of the Netherlands defeated Dominic Thiem 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in front of the Austrian’s home crowd at the Erste Bank Open on Tuesday.
The 72nd-ranked Haase, who has won both his career titles in Austria, lost serve in the opening game, but had two breaks to take the first set.
Eighth-seeded Thiem, whose breakthrough season has seen him rise to No. 38, leveled with one break in the second, but failed to recover from dropping 4-1 behind in the final set.
Photo: EPA
“I was just too weak today,” the 38th-ranked Thiem said. “It’s bitter to lose in front of your home crowd, but Robin played very solid.”
Haase, who was beaten last year by German Tommy Haas, next faces Benjamin Becker, also of Germany, who rallied to defeat Victor Hanescu of Romania 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Yet there was some comfort for the home crowd on Tuesday, as two-time former champion Jurgen Melzer came from a set and a service break down to defeat Norbert Gombos of Slovakia 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The Austrian — a former No. 8 who won in 2009 and 2010 — was broken in the opening game of the second set by Gombos, who was making his ATP Tour debut, but took control after immediately breaking back.
“This is the kind of win I need to build self-confidence,” said Melzer, who had a seven-month injury layoff earlier this season and has slipped to 123rd in the rankings.
Melzer next plays Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, who saved three match points in the second set before beating Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/2).
Seventh-seeded Karlovic served 29 aces in a match with three tiebreakers and had no break points.
Vasek Pospisil of Canada edged Daniel Brands of Germany 6-3, 6-7 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) to set up a second-round match with Andy Murray, who had a bye in the opening round.
In other first-round play, German Jan-Lennard Struff defeated seventh seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-4; Viktor Troicki of Serbia crushed Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 6-0, 6-3; and Tomaz Bellucci of Brazil downed Paul-Henri Matthieu of France 6-1, 6-4.
STOCKHOLM OPEN
AP, Stockholm
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco is through to the second round of the Stockholm Open after beating Marinko Matosevic of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Fifth-seeded Leonardo Mayer also reached the second round after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Donald Young, while Frenchman Adrian Mannarino rallied after dropping the first set to beat Marcos Baghdatis 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Marius Copil eliminated eighth-seeded Portuguese player Joao Sousa and Jeremy Chardy beat Sweden’s Elias Ymer 6-3, 6-4.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS