Thu, Feb 19, 2015 page8

• Avenging Lu Yen-hsun advances at Delray Beach Open

  • By Dave Carroll / Staff reporter, with AFP, DELRAY BEACH, Florida
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  Lu Yen-hsun rallied from a set down to oust Australia’s Sam Groth and advance to the second round of the Delray Beach Open in Florida on Tuesday.

  The Taiwanese world No. 61, who lost 6-4, 6-3 to the world No. 70 at the Memphis Open last week, avenged that defeat by completing a grueling 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory in 2 hours, 19 minutes.

  The Taiwanese No. 1 saved four of six break-point chances and converted three of eight to edge the Australian and set up a second-round meeting with top seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa, who ousted Australia’s John-Patrick Smith 6-3, 6-3.

  

  Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun returns to Sam Groth of Australia in their Memphis Open first-round match at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, on Tuesday last week.

  Photo: EPA

  Another Australian, Marinko Matosevic, upset second seed John Isner of the 6-4, 6-4.

  Isner, who won all his three prior meetings with the Bosnian-born Australian last year, fired 16 aces in a losing cause, surrendering a service break in each set, while squandering all three of his own chances in the 1 hour, 15 minute encounter.

  Matosevic, ranked 78th and seeking his second ATP Tour final after a 2012 runner-up effort at Delray Beach, booked a second-round date with Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka, who defeated Dutchman Igor Sijsling 7-5, 6-1.

  Two other Australians also advanced, with Bernard Tomic eliminating Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-3 and qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis downing Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-3.

  Tomic next faces Serbian eighth seed Viktor Troicki, who outlasted France’s Stephane Robert 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-1, while Kokkinakis will meet Croatian fourth seed Ivo Karlovic.

  US sixth seed Sam Querrey was forced to withdraw with a sore back while leading Colombia’s Alejandro Gonzalez 6-3, 1-2.

  “I had a sudden movement at the net and kind of jerked my back a little bit,” Querrey said. “It’s an injury that I felt before, but never on a specific motion like this. My lower back just kind of tightened up and I can’t really move it in any direction.”

  Gonzalez next faces Donald Young of the US, who followed up his semi-final run from last week in Memphis by defeating Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 7-5, 7-5.

  French fifth seed Adrian Mannarino defeated US qualifier Eric Quigley 6-4, 6-4 and next faces US wild-card Denis Kudla.

  OPEN 13

  AP, MARSEILLE, France

  Seventh seed Gael Monfils of France saved five set points on the way to a 6-1, 7-6 (14/12) win against teenager Alexander Zverev in the first round of the Open 13 on Tuesday.

  All of the set points saved by Monfils came in a hard-fought tiebreaker and the 28-year-old — a former Grand Slam semi-finalist — was full of praise for the 17-year-old German.

  “Alexander is a very talented player and I’m not surprised by the way he played in the second set,” Monfils said. “I was expecting a tough match.”

  Monfils next faces Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov, who beat Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

  In other first-round matches, Canadian Vasek Pospisil, Austrian Dominic Thiem, German Jan-Lennard Struff and Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Benoit Paire all advanced.
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