Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene used nine aces and some clutch play to knock off second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday in the Round of 16 at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
FILE PHOTO: Tennis – ATP 500 – Vienna Open – Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria – October 25, 2019 Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene in action during his quarter final match against France’s Gael Monfils REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Bedene saved all five break points he faced — including three to hold at 4-4 in the first set — and converted his only two opportunities to break Tsitsipas. He closed it out on his first match point, wrapping up victory in 92 minutes on the hardcourt.
Third-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils had no such trouble, downing countryman Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-1, but fourth-seeded David Goffin of Belgium fell 7-6 (7), 7-5 to Italian wild card Jannik Sinner.
Seventh-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev dispatched Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-3, and Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic also advanced.
New York Open
Australia’s Jordan Thompson overcame 22 aces by John Isner to down the top-seeded American 7-6 (2), 6-7 (3), 6-3 in the Round of 16 of the hardcourt tournament.
Thompson managed just two aces against one double fault himself, but he saved all five break points and faced and finally broke Isner in the third set. That was the only break of service in the match, which lasted more than two and a half hours.
Third-seeded American Reilly Opelka, the defending champion, collected 20 aces of his own in dispatching Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4 in 72 minutes. Seeded Brits Cameron Norrie (No. 7) and Kyle Edmund (No. 8) had mixed results, as Norrie fell to Taiwanese qualifier Jason Jung 6-4, 6-4, and Edmund beat Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 6-2, 6-4.
Argentina Open
Top-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina avoided an upset at the hands of countryman Federico Delbonis in the Round of 16, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on the clay in Buenos Aires.
Second-seeded Guido Pella and Facundo Bagnis also put on a show in another all-Argentine matchup, with Pella prevailing 7-6 (2), 6-7 (2), 6-4 in a 3-hour, 13-minute match. Bagnis fought off two match points to hold in the final set before Pella put it away on his own serve.
The other two seeded players in action both fell. Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero rallied past sixth-seeded Laslo Djere of Serbia 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1, and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas seesawed past Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
—Field Level Media