As the Chengdu Open 2017 moved into second round action today, world No. 84 Dusan Lajovic scored the first big upset of the tournament with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over last year’s finalist and singles second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain to progress to his third quarterfinal of the season.
The Serbian did not face a single break point and converted three of the five break opportunities he created during the 66 minute encounter.
“I played a perfect match I think - I didn’t lose serve once. I wasn’t even in danger on my serve. I cannot complain about anything today. I’ll just try to embrace the feeling and try to play similarly on Friday. Sugita is obviously having a great season so it’s not going to be easy, but I hope that I can win and progress further,” said the 27-year-old.
World No.25 Ramos-Vinolas paid tribute to his opponent’s performance: “I think he played a good match and deserved it. I haven’t played since the US Open and maybe I needed more time to find my rhythm. I just have to keep working and looking forward to the next tournament.”
Singles defending champ and world No.32 #NextGenATP star Karen Khachanov of Russia suffered a similar fate in his opening match, as Uzbek Denis Istomin took just 64 minutes to complete a 6-3, 6-2 rout over the 21-year-old.
World no. 78 Istomin served up eight aces and saved all three break points he faced to move into his fourth Tour quarterfinal of the season (second consecutive QF after Metz).
“I was serving well today but I don’t think he was at 100% after playing quite a lot on clay in the Davis Cup before coming here. But I am happy with my game today - I was serving and returning well. Nowadays, you have to be aggressive against top players, if you are not aggressive, you will lose,” said the 31-year-old, who has a solitary singles career title (at Nottingham ’15).
The number three seed Khachanov expressed disappointment over his performance: “It’s very disappointing for me - I just didn’t manage to play the way I wanted. I missed a lot of shots. My game felt unbalanced. It’s been a tough season and I recently played the Davis Cup, so I changed surfaces from hard to clay and back to hard - it’s a little bit of everything. It’s been a good year overall but I’ve not been as consistent as I would like in some tournaments so that is something that I will work on.”
Japanese fifth seed Yuichi Sugita, who picked up his maiden title in Antalya this year, progressed to his fourth quarterfinal of the season with a commanding 6-4, 6-1 victory over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in just over an hour.
“I think I played solid today - I was a little bit nervous in the early games but after I got the break, I was more confident. I like fast courts, so the courts here are good for my style of play,” said the 29-year-old world No.43.
Twenty-year-old #NextGenATP contender Jared Donaldson, currently sixth in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, served sixth seed Kyle Edmund of Great Britain a first set bagel and overcame a second set resurgence to prevail 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes and book his second career Tour level quarterfinal appearance.
The young American squandered two match points in the final game of the third set but eventually got the break he needed on his third attempt to secure his second win over Edmund this year, having defeated him at the Cincinnati Masters.
“Even though the score wasn’t that close in the first two sets, it was a tight match. The difference was in the first set I was the aggressor, forcing him to make mistakes, while I became more passive in the second. I served a little better in the third set and I think that translated into all aspects of my game. I had beaten him before so I knew that if I just played my game, I could do it again,” said the world No. 58.
Fresh off capturing his maiden singles title at Metz last week, German Peter Gojowczyk continued his fine form by disposing eighth seeded Argentinian Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-2 in just 56 minutes.
“I’m feeling quite good. Last week was my absolute best week - it feels amazing to have won my first title. I actually just came in last night from Munich, so today was not easy. Metz was indoor but this was outdoor and the courts are a little bit faster. In the beginning I was a little bit nervous because of the difference but I did a great job today,” said the 28-year-old, who is at a career high of No.66.
In doubles matches played today, second seeds Julio Peralta and Michael Venus opened their Chengdu Open 2017 campaigns with a commanding 6-1, 6-3 victory over Borna Coric and Guido Pella. The Chilean-Kiwi duo, in their debut as a pair, converted all four break opportunities they fashioned and won 92% of their first serve points in the 46 minute match.
The Chinese Taipei and Indian tandem of Yen-Hsun Lu and Divij Sharan also made the quarterfinals after an exciting 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 super-tiebreak victory over Thai-Japanese pairing Sonchat Ratiwatana and Sugita.
Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer and Ramos-Vinolas also won today, defeating the German-Austrian duo of Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-2, while Nikoloz Basilashvili and Denis Istomin squandered a first set lead as New Zealand-Brazilian duo completed a 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 comeback victory in 74 minutes to book their quarterfinal spot.
In the day’s final doubles match, top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Jonathan Erlich and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. The Israeli-Pakistani duo converted the only two break points they created in a 6-4, 7-6(8) victory lasting one hour and 31 minutes.
TOP SEED THIEM AND EXCITING #NEXTGENATP YOUNGSTER RUBLEV COMMENCE CAMPAIGNS TOMORROW
All four remaining second round singles ties will be contested tomorrow on Stadium Court from 1pm onwards, along with the four doubles main draw quarterfinals.
Exciting 19-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev, who picked up his first career title at Umag in July, is at a career high of No. 37 and will face Yen-Hsun Lu in the day’s first match, having already defeated the Chinese-Taipei national early this year at the Australian Open.
Former world No.8 Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who has seen his ranking drop outside the top 100 this year, will face in-form Gojowczyk (currently ranked at No.66) in his second round match, with the duo only having met once seven years ago in Munich (Baghdatis came back from a set down to win).
Nineteen-year-old American Taylor Fritz, another #NextGenATP contender (tenth in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan), faces off against Memphis finalist Georgian Basilashvili, who is having the season of his career (reached a career high of No.51 in June) and defeated seventh seed Viktor Troicki in a commanding performance yesterday.
Top seed and world No.7 Dominic Thiem will finally commence his Chengdu Open 2017 campaign in the day’s final singles match slated for Stadium court, meeting Guido Pella (world No.72) for the second time on Tour. The Austrian lost their only previous encounter in the Rio Open semifinals in February last year.
Tomorrow’s doubles quarterfinals will feature three of the top four seeded pairs, with matches starting from 2.30pm (local time) on Court 1. The match featuring second seeds Peralta and Venus will be played at night on Stadium Court.
There will be free admission to Court 1 matches. Tickets for the Chengdu Open main draw Stadium Court matches through to the finals will range in price from RMB 30 to RMB 400 and are available through www.damai.cn and www.piao.com.cn.
The tournament is owned by IMG and is organized by the Chinese Tennis Association and Chengdu Municipal Government, is co-organized by Chengdu Sports Bureau, Shuangliu District Government and Chengdu Culture Tourism Group and is promoted by Sichuan Investment International Tennis Centre Development Co., Ltd., CCTV IMG (Beijing) Sports Management Co. Ltd. and IMG Sports Development (Shanghai) Limited.
The Chengdu Open is also very proud to have the distinguished support from ATP World Tour’s Premier Partner Emirates, the official player hotel St. Regis, Chengdu which fast became a favourite of the players, Srixon tennis balls, the Sichuan Tennis International Hotel which is conveniently located adjacent to the courts and providing efficient services to the tournament, the official sponsor Chengdu Better City, the official car Unicorn, the official apparel Erke, the official gym equipment Life Fitness, the official Chinese tea Sichuan Mengding Tea Co. Ltd., the official stringer Yonex and the official water Ice Age. The Official media partners are Iqiyi Sports, West China Metropolis, Chengdu Radio and TV Station, Chengdu Daily, CTA APP, Shenzhen Hundred-Meter Life Shares Co., Ltd., and Tennis World.
The official tournament website www.ChengduOpenTennis.com has additional information about the tournament.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Ms. Robecta Yeung, ph: +852-28940204 or +86-13760373443 or by email Robecta.Yeung@img.com.
About the 2017 Chengdu Open
Please visit: www.ChengduOpenTennis.com
About Chinese Tennis Association
Please visit: www.tennis.org.cn
About Chengdu City
Please visit: www.chengdu.gov.cn
About Chengdu Sports Bureau
Please visit: www.cdsport.gov.cn
About Shuangliu District
Please visit: www.shuangliu.gov.cn
About Chengdu Culture Tourism Group
Please visit: www.cdctg.com
About Sichuan Investment International Tennis Centre Development Co., Ltd.
Please visit: www.sciitc.com
About CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company
Please visit: www.cctv-img.com
About IMG
Please visit: www.img.com
About the ATP World Tour
Please visit: www.atpworldtour.com
