Number one seed and world No. 7 Dominic Thiem failed to live up to his top billing in his opening match here at the Chengdu Open, as Argentinian Guido Pella completed a thrilling 7-6(6), 6-4 victory in one hour and 55 minutes.
The 24-year-old Thiem broke his opponent’s serve in the very first game, but world No. 72 Pella returned the favour in the fourth game to level matters and force a tie-break. Thiem again took the initiative with the first mini-break point of the tie-break, but Pella fought back and eventually took three points on the trot to close out the first set.
In the second set, Thiem saved four match points, including a memorable hawk-eye call that was in by the breadth of a hair, but could not stop the Argentinian from securing his second career victory over him, having already defeated him on the clay courts of Rio last year.
“It was a very tough match. The first set I started a little bit slow and against a player like him, I cannot do that. I think after that I played very good in the first set. Even though I went down at the start of the tie-break, I think I played well in the important moments. In the second set, I broke him once and the last game was unbelievable. I thought I had beaten him but the ball was just in! In the end, I’m very happy to win,” said the world No.72.
Thiem, who is currently at his career high ranking, having made the semifinals or better in five tournaments this year, reflected on his defeat: “I was fighting good today but I had a late arrival after the Laver Cup matches I played. I don’t think I was at 100% but he was also playing very well. It was very close and he won the key points that won him the match.”
In the day’s first match on Stadium Court, Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu stunned number four seed Andrey Rublev with a remarkable 6-2, 6-1 victory over the Russian in just 53 minutes to make his first Tour quarterfinal of the season.
At 34-years-old, Lu is the oldest player in the singles draw, but the world No.63 put his 19-year-old opponent to the sword, converting four out of an impressive 12 break opportunities he created during the 53 minute encounter, while saving the only two break points that he faced.
“I’m happy with the way I played today and what I did in the match. Today I showed I can compete with the top guys. He’s a big hitter and every ball comes fast so today I told myself to be strong at the baseline and keep the ball in front of me. I’m still not at 100% after my injury at the Shanghai challenger, but I have to say the ATP medical staff have really helped me manage the issue,” said the world No.63, who withdrew from his Shanghai Challenger finals match against Yibing Wu with a right shoulder injury last earlier this month.
The world No.37 Rublev, a #NextGenATP contender and currently second in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, was disappointed with his performance but also acknowledged Lu’s devastating display.
“Today didn’t go well. I’m going to learn from the mistakes that I made here and I will try to improve in the coming weeks. Today, he was playing really well. I think the surface here suits his type of game, because he likes to play fast and flat. He didn’t give me any chance to find my rhythm,” said Rublev, who heads to Beijing next.
A crowd favourite here in the Chengdu Open, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis gave fans a real treat as he rallied from a set down to oust Metz singles champ Peter Gojowcyzk 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 46 minutes on Stadium Court.
Having endured a difficult year thus far, with his ranking falling to No.122 earlier this month (lowest since June ’14), the 32-year-old showed signs of a return to form, facing only two break points during the match (losing the first to go a set down) and converting four out of five in the second and third sets.
“The first set it was a bit tough for me. He won the tournament last week in Metz and he was playing with lots of confidence. I didn’t know what to expect at first but then I found my rhythm and found some ways to break his serve. I started serving a little better myself as well because I figured out where he returns better and where he doesn’t. I can’t say it was easy but I found a way to win today and I’m happy with it,” said the former world No.8 Baghdatis, who has four career titles, including one picked up at the China Open in 2006.
Baghdatis has a 1-1 record against his Lu, his quarterfinal opponent tomorrow, but hasn’t faced him since 2011 and will be wary of the form the top Chinese-Taipei player is in.
“It’s going to be a tough one. He beat Rublev in two sets and that is pretty impressive. I’m sure he is playing very well. I need to focus on the way I played today in the second and third sets and bring that to the match tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes,” said the Cypriot.
In a match between two in-form players, young American #NextGenATP contender Taylor Fritz once again dazzled on court here at the Chengdu Open with an impressive 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Georgian Basilashvili to make his third quarterfinal appearance in as many tournaments.
The six-foot-four world No.94, who came through the qualifying rounds, racked up 12 aces and was especially dominant in a third set in which he did not face a single break point and converted two of the four he created against the world No. 59 Basilashvili, who is at his career best ranking having made the semifinals or better in four tournaments this season (including at Metz last week).
“The match was really physical and I was moving around the court a lot because Nikoloz was playing very aggressively and attacked so much, but I’m happy with the win and feeling pretty good going into the next match. I’m playing the best tennis I’ve ever played right now towards the end of this year after having some difficulty coming back from injury at the start of the year. I think I’m playing better now than I was when I had my career high ranking,” said the 19-year-old, whose career best ranking of No.53 came in August last year.
In doubles matches today, third seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Nenad Zimonjic, who possess a combined career haul of 65 doubles titles between them, moved into the semifinals with a 7-5, 5-7, 10-3 super-tiebreaker victory over Treat Huey and Fabrice Martin.
Meanwhile, fourth seeds Dominic Inglot and Daniel Nestor were knocked out of the Chengdu Open by Yen-Hsun Lu and Indian partner Divij Sharan, who prevailed 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour.
Israeli-Pakistani duo Jonathan Erlich and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi also continued their dream run with a 6-3, 2-6, 10-4 win over Leonardo Mayer and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
In the day’s final doubles quarterfinal match, the second seeded duo of Julio Peralta and Michael Venus were also knocked out of the tournament, as Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner and Australian Marcus Daniell completed a 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 10-7 super-tiebreaker victory to move into the semifinals.
CHENGDU OPEN ENTERS SINGLES QUARTERFINALS TOMORROW
All four semifinals will be played tomorrow from 2pm onwards, with the first match featuring Japanese fifth seed Yuichi Sugita taking on surprise quarterfinalist Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.
World No. 84 Lajovic is gunning to make his first semifinal appearance of the season after upsetting second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round yesterday, while Sugita is in the best form of his career after picking up his maiden title in Antalya to reach a career high of No.42 earlier this month.
Young #NextGenATP star Jared Donaldson of the USA is also having a breakout season - he achieved career high rankings nine times, peaking at No. 51 in August - and will face Uzbek Denis Istomin tomorrow in his second quarterfinal appearance of the year.
The 20-year-old may have defeated sixth seed Kyle Edmund in the second round but world No.78 Istomin disposed third seed and defending champ Khachanov yesterday and has already defeated the American once this year in the second round of qualifying during the Madrid Masters in May.
The doubles semifinal match featuring Erlich/Qureshi and Gonzalez/Zimonjic will also be played tomorrow on Court 1 at 2pm.
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
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About Chengdu City
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About Chengdu Sports Bureau
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About Shuangliu District
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About Sichuan Investment International Tennis Centre Development Co., Ltd.
Please visit: www.sciitc.com
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