Dutch underdog Robin Haase on Wednesday produced a superb comeback to knock out top seed Feliciano Lopez in the second round of the Estoril Open 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
French fifth seed Richard Gasquet, playing his first event in six weeks after returning from a back injury, continued his comeback with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of compatriot Kenny de Schepper.
The 28-year-old Gasquet had been enjoying a successful season prior to his injury, winning his 11th career title in Montpellier, France, and reaching the last eight in both Doha and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Photo: EPA
The two-time Estoril finalist (2007, 2012) is set to face Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, who caused an upset as he beat Argentine fourth seed Leonardo Mayer 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, serving seven aces and breaking three times in the 89-minute win.
“I’m very happy with how I played this match,” Gasquet said. “It’s always satisfying to win in straight sets. I’m still feeling good about my injury, it’s not bothering me, I felt I played better and served better than in the first round. I’m quite satisfied.”
“Almagro will be a test for me, he’s one of the best on clay, very physical and playing well. We’ll just have to see how I can handle him,” he added.
Haase is set to face Australian seventh seed Nick Kyrgios, who beat Serb Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-3 in the first night session ever staged in the history of the tournament.
Lopez, an unorthodox Spanish serve-and-volleyer ranked 12th in the world, was motoring to what was looking like a routine straight-sets winning start when the wheels came off his game.
Haase saved two match points in the 12th game of the second set as he mounted his fightback.
He was broken twice while serving for victory in the second set, with the 101st-ranked Haase taking the set into a tiebreaker and leveling at a set each on the first of four set points.
Lopez’ previous superiority disappeared and he was unable to regain the initiative. He has now lost to Haase in all three of their ATP meetings on clay.
Lopez was broken in the first game of the third set and was never able to close the gap on his inspired opponent, who moved into his first quarter-final since July last year in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Haase needed a little more than two hours to ensure victory, with Lopez saving six of 10 break points he faced.
“Tennis can be very sad sometimes,” Lopez said. “There will be days when you do all the right things and you lose anyway. Serving twice for the match, it’s not normal to lose like this. I should have closed it out, especially since I had a couple of match points.”
“I played great for two sets, I was aggressive and charging the net. Unfortunately, that was not enough today. The match was close and I just couldn’t find a way to win in the end,” he added.
Another Spanish seed joined Lopez on the sidelines, with third seed Tommy Robredo withdrawing on the eve of his match yesterday due to a left foot injury.
He was replaced in the draw by David Vega Hernandez, a lucky loser from qualifying rounds.
ISTANBUL OPEN
World No. 2 Roger Federer on Wednesday eased past fellow 33-year old Jarkko Nieminen of Finland to reach the quarter-finals of the Istanbul Open.
Federer, showing flashes of brilliance mixed with occasional errors, closed out in a little more than an hour to win the second-round match 6-2, 7-5.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner was making his first appearance in Turkey at the Istanbul Open, the first ever ATP World Tour event in the nation.
Federer, who is seeded to meet world No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the final, is hoping to use the clay-court event to fine tune his bid for a second French Open title next month. He is looking for confidence on the slower clay, after a long hard-court season, having lost in the third round on clay to Gael Monfils at the Monte Carlo Masters this month.
Federer raced through the first set in just 20 minutes, pulling out his full armory of drop shots, cross-court forehands and backhand winners against a clearly hesitant world No. 71 Nieminen.
A stunning drop shot from Federer that fell dead inside the service court broke Nieminen’s serve in the fifth game and left the crowd gasping. The crowd, who had braved heavy evening traffic to catch Federer play at the 8,000 capacity Garanti Koza Arena on the outskirts of Istanbul, began to get behind the Finn to prolong the game.
Nieminen showed greater confidence in the second set, holding his serve with ease and with an over-relaxed Federer spraying the ball wide regularly.
The Federer forehand was responsible for a string of unforced errors, allowing Nieminen to hold serve without trouble.
However, Federer, serving and volleying on occasion and delivering nine aces in the match, found his top gear at the close of the set.
Piling pressure on Nieminen’s second serve and using his trademark drive volley to great effect, Federer finally broke Nieminen to lead 6-5.
He then served out to love, finishing with a stunning backhand cross court that left Nieminen with arms and legs akimbo.
In today’s quarter-finals, Federer is set to face Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain, who overcame Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets.
BMW OPEN
Roberto Bautista Agut, David Goffin and Philipp Kohlschreiber, the three seeded players in action on Wednesday, all advanced to the quarter-finals of the BMW Open clay-court tournament.
Third-seeded Bautista Agut breezed past qualifier Radek Stepanek 6-0, 6-3 and No. 5 Kohlschreiber dispatched wild card entry Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-4.
Kohlschreiber is a two-time champion, while the 18-year-old Zverev is the youngest of eight teenagers in the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings.
Fourth-seeded Goffin needed three sets to get past Simone Bolelli 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-1 and is set to face Kohlschreiber.
Victor Estrella Burgos overcame Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-7 (1), 7-5 to set up a match against Bautista Agut, who saved all four break points he faced and hit six aces. In a first-round match, Pablo Andujar beat Joao Souza 6-4, 6-4. Andujar was runner-up in Barcelona last week and withstood 11 aces to beat Souza.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
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