Aljaz Bedene

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Newlywed Marin Cilic The Top Seed at the Istanbul Open
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The clay 250 in Istanbul features newlywed Marin Cilic as it’s top seed, he’s joined by hungry group of ATP players seeking form ahead of the bigger clay court stops to come. Here is your full preview, with predictions.

Top Half:

Marin Cilic will open with Malek Jaziri or Marsel Ilhan, with a qualifier likely awaiting in the quarters. Neither Jiri Vesely nor Gerald Melzer are in good form, and I’d expect qualifiers Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Thiago Monteiro to knock them off, with Cilic edging Gimeno-Traver in the quarters. DGT is in good form at the challenger level.

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Budapest semifinalist Andreas Seppi will face Laslo Djere or Denis Istomin in round 2, while Paolo Lorenzi should defeat Cem Ilkel before facing a qualifier, either Marco Trungelliti or Elias Ymer. Yet again I have a qualifier in the quarters, as Trungelliti is in far better form than Lorenzi. Seppi should reach the semis.

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Bottom Half:

Damir Dzumhur is in poor form and will open against Thomas Fabbiano or Mikhail Youzhny. I’m not confident but I’ll put Dzumhur into the quarters opposite Jeremy Chardy. Chardy has a challenging opening match against Nikoloz Basilashvili, and then will face either Budapest finalist John Millman, or Dusan Lajovic, probably Lajovic given Millman’s fatigue. Chardy is my semifinalist from this weak section.

Aljaz Bedene, a semifinalist in Budapest, will face Matteo Berrettini or Taro Daniel in round 2, I have him winning that and advancing to the quarters opposite Rogerio Dutra Silva. The Brazilian should take advantage of a weak path of Radu Albot and Viktor Troicki/Bernard Tomic to reach the quarters. Tomic and Troicki are a shell of their abilities. Bedene should win the section.

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Predictions

semis
Cilic d. Seppi
Bedene d. Chardy

Form could be a question for Cilic, but he’s the best player in this field and should take home the title. Bedene has a great shot as well.

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final
Cilic d. Bedene

Roger Federer Reclaims #1 with Rotterdam Title, Dominic Thiem Takes Buenos Aires
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Kevin Anderson took the title in New York, he’s joined this week in the ATP winner’s circle by Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem. Both tournament favorites took care of business in Rotterdam and Buenos Aires respectively.

ATP Rotterdam

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Roger Federer improved to 12-0 on the season and reclaimed world #1 in Rotterdam. Federer becomes the oldest player to ever hold the #1 ranking, that result coming after beating home player Robin Haase in three sets in the quarterfinals.

Federer dominated Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 6-2 in a forgettable final. He was tested more by both Phillip Kohlschreiber and Andreas Seppi earlier in the tournament. Federer eased past Ruben Bemelmans in the opening round. The result in Rotterdam is Federer’s third championship at the venue.

Dimitrov defeated Yuichi Sugita, Filip Krajinovic, Andrey Rublev, and David Goffin en route to the final. Goffin had to retire after being hit in the eye with a tennis ball that deflected off of his racquet. Despite Dimitrov having a good tournament overall, his complete inability to compete with Federer in the final is likely to linger in his mind in the weeks to come.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut beat Olivier Marach and Mate Pavic in the doubles final.

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ATP Buenos Aires

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Dominic Thiem won a second career title in Buenos Aires. Thiem came through unscathed against Aljaz Bedene in the final, winning 6-2 6-4. Horacio Zeballos, Guido Pella, and Gael Monfils also fell at the hands of Thiem’s racquet as the Austrian didn’t drop a set this week.

Bedene has backed up his great 2017 with a run to the final. Bedene defeated Jiri Vesely, Albert Ramos, Diego Schwartzman, and Federico Delbonis. He dropped sets against Ramos and Delbonis but cemented himself as a dangerous player on clay in the tournaments to come.

Argentines Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos defeated Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah to give home fans joy in the doubles final.

ATP Barcelona

Rafael Nadal’s 10th title in Barcelona was special, as it came on a court that was named after him at the start of the tournament this year. Rafa, 29-5 on the season, and now 10-0 on clay, did the double once again in is career, taking Barcelona after taking Monte Carlo the prior week. Nadal hasn’t dropped a set on clay in nine straight matches and rolled past Rogerio Dutra Silva, Kevin Anderson, Hyeon Chung, Horacio Zeballos, and finalist Dominic Thiem beating Thiem 6-4 6-1. Thiem, playing his second final of 2017, was blitzed by Nadal but still claimed a win over world #1 Andy Murray in the semifinals, and also beat Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans, and Yuichi Sugita on the week.

Florin Mergea and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi beat Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya in the doubles final.

ATP Budapest

Lucas Pouille claimed his eighth win in nine matches 6-3 6-1 over qualifier Aljaz Bedene to claim the title in Budapest, his first of 2017, and the second of his career at age 23. Pouille needed three sets against Jiri Vesely in his first match in Hungary, but didn’t look back after that easing past Martin Klizan and Paolo Lorenzi to make the final, before thumping Bedene, who had won a remarkable sixteen straight matches leading into the final. In the end fatigue likely hurt his already limited changes against the talented Frenchman. Bedene beat lucky loser Marius Copil twice in two matches then beat Robin Haase, Ivo Karlovic, and qualifier Laslo Djere without dropping a set.

Brian Baker and Nikola Mektic won the doubles title over Juan Sebastian Cabral and Robert Farah.

The inaugural ATP tournament in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, is underway this week, it’s a 250 on clay as French Open preparations continue across Europe.

Gazprom Hungarian Open
ATP World Tour 250
April 24-30, 2017
Budapest, Hungaria
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €482,060

Top Half:

Monte Carlo semifinalist Lucas Pouille begins his campaign against Jiri Vesely, who knocked off Borna Coric round one and has won five of his last seven. Pouille on clay looks solid enough to reach the quarters opposite Martin Klizan. The draw opened up for Klizan, who has been struggling, after qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo stunned a jaded Gilles Simon in straight sets in round 1. Fratangelo could follow that up with another win, but Pouille over Klizan seems like a sensible prediction.

Fabio Fognini is usually competitive on clay and could use a boost against Andrey Kuznetsov, who is seeking a breakthrough of his own. Kuznetsov is a dangerous dark horse, but I have Fognini through to face dirtballer Paolo Lorenzi. Lorenzi will face Sergiy Stakhovsky in round 2, and is the favorite to reach the semifinals in my book. He’s more consistent than his counterpart Fognini.

Bottom Half:

The big serving Ivo Karlovic has struggled this season and is not great on clay, thus Damir Dzumhur, who beat Steve Darcis round 1, looks set to go through to the quarterfinals against in-form qualifier Aljaz Bedene. Bedene is red hot, with a 21-0 record below the tour level right now. His second round opponent Robin Haase did upset Diego Schwartzman in round 1, but Bedene’s form indicates he’s due for a great week and I have him winning in round 2 then beating Dzumhur to make the semifinals.

Viktor Troicki won his opening match and looks set to defeat Laslo Djere, a qualifier, in round 2. Houston quaterfinalist Fernando Verdasco is the favorite in this section, Marton Fuscovics is a local favorite but unlikely to beat the veteran Spaniard in round 2. Verdasco on clay is the favorite to reach the semifinals.

Dark Horse: Aljaz Bedene

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Bedene has lurked on the cusp of being a solid ATP player and after great results below the tour level he looks set to step up to the big stage and cement his place among the players who compete week to week on the ATP Tour.

Predictions

Semis
Pouille d. Lorenzi
Verdasco d. Bedene

Final
Pouille vs. Verdasco

Pouille and Verdasco look set to make the final of this somewhat weak 250, any outcome is possible but their form seems good enough to prevail, with Pouille as the favorite.

2016 @IrvingClassic Challenger Preview & Predictions

Posted by Admin on March 15, 2016

Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Chris De Waard. Tagged: 2016, Aljaz Bedene, atp challenger, denis kudla, Donald Young, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Irving Classic, Lukas Rosol, picks, predictions, preview, Ryan Harrison. Leave a comment

2016 Irving Challenger Preview & Predictions
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

2016 BMW of Dallas Irving Tennis Classic

ATP Challenger Tour

Irving, USA

15-20 March 2016

Hardcourt, Laycold Purple

Prize Money: $125,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (38)

2: Gilles Muller (45)

3: Lukas Rosol (50)

4: Aljaz Bedene (51)

5: Inigo Cervantes (59)

6: Denis Kudla (66)

7: Daniel Munoz De La Nava (69)

8: Iliya Marchenko (72)

The last direct acceptance is Jozef Kovalik, ranked 183rd.

First round match-ups to watch

(1) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – Marco Cecchinato

This should be an interesting match press wise, as it got known a couple of days ago that Cecchinato is under investigation by the Italian Tennis Federation because of suspected match-fixing at the Mohammedia Challenger last year. The alleged fix took place in his quarterfinal match against Kamil Majchrzak, a match he lost 1-6 4-6.

(WC) Ryan Harrison – Andrey Rublev

Ryan Harrison at Legg Mason Tennis Classic. August 1, 2011

18-year-old Rublev won his first Challenger in Quimper two weeks ago, beating home player Paul-Henri Mathieu in the final. Harrison had a good showing at the Acapulco 500 event, beating world #12 Marin Cilic in the first round, before losing in a third set tiebreak to Iliya Marchenko, the eighth seed here in Irving.

(WC) Dimitry Tursunov – Donald Young

Donald Young (Photo: Chris Levy @Tennis_Shots for TennisEastCoast.com)

Donald Young (Photo: Chris Levy @Tennis_Shots for TennisAtlantic.com)

33-year-old former world #20 Tursunov recently returned from a very lengthy injury lay-off, that saw him sidelined for more than a year. He pushed eventual winner Dominic Thiem to the brink in the second round of Acapulco, losing 7-6(5) 3-6 4-6. At Indian Wells he lost in the first round to Marchenko, despite reeling off a spectacular volley winner. Young, a former top 40 player, has lost in the second round of four of the six tournaments he played this year, the other two losses were in the first round. In the first round of Indian Wells he lost in three sets to Andreas Seppi.

Top Half

As always, this tournament has a stacked draw, in reality lifting it from Challenger status to a low-tier 250 event. In the top half top seed Garcia-Lopez landed a cushy draw, with perhaps only an on-fire Rublev who will be able to stop him from reaching the semi-final. The Russian however is still very erratic and it makes sense to favor Garcia-Lopez. When it comes to the other semi-finalist I predict Aljaz Bedene, although he will face stiff competition from guys like Tursunov/Young and perhaps even Frances Tiafoe, who had a great win over Taylor Fritz at Indian Wells a couple of days.

Bottom Half

Second seed Gilles Muller came close to an upset against Rafael Nadal in the second round of Indian Wells, but the Spaniard edged him out 6-2 2-6 6-4. Muller should be able to at least reach the semi-final here, although he likely faces tough competition in the quarterfinal from Marchenko, who has been in good form lately. In the top section third seed Lukas Rosol has a comfortable draw and should be able to get through. The other seed in this section is Denia Kudla, who got absolutely hammered by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round of Indian Wells, 6-0 6-1.

Predictions

Semi-finals:

Bedene d. Garcia-Lopez

Rosol d. Muller

Final:

Rosol d. Bedene

This would mean a final between the winner in 2014 (Rosol) and this year’s defending champion, Bedene.

Aljaz Bedene, Lukas Rosol Move To Paris Masters Main Draw

Posted by Admin on November 1, 2015

Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP. Tagged: Aljaz Bedene, atp, Lukas Rosol, Marcel Granollers, masters, paris, qualifying, results. Leave a comment

Aljaz Bedene, Lukas Rosol Move To Paris Masters Main Draw
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic
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The tenth and final Masters tournament of 2015 will get underway on Monday at the BNP Paribas Masters Open, held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. The tournament will be a golden opportunity for the lower ranked players to end their season on a high note as they prepare for their off-season.

24 players participated in the qualifying tournament for six places in the main draw. Leading the seeds was Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene. Bedene is currently at a career ranking high of 48th in the world and has claimed three Challenger titles this year. In his opening match, Bedene faced French wild card Gregoire Barrere. The 21-year-old won his second Futures title in September, first since 2013. Despite there being almost 200 places between the two players, Barrere put up a spirited fight before losing 7-6 (2), 7-6( 2), to the Brit. The reward for Bedene was a mouthwatering clash with Jerzy Janowicz. Janowicz defeated Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in three sets in the first round (7-5, 3-6, 6-3).

It was at the Paris Masters where Janowicz had his breakthrough tournament where as a qualifier he defeated five top 20 players to reach the final of the 2012 tournament before losing to David Ferrer. The Polish player failed to reproduce his sensational run this year as Bedene defeated the 24-year-old 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-5. Janowicz had two chances in the final game of the match to force proceedings into a deciding tiebreak but failed to convert either as Bedene held his nerve to progress to the main draw.

Spanish 11th seed Marcel Granollers overcame a duo of French players to reach his sixth Paris Masters main draw. After dismissing wild card Quentin Halys in straight sets (6-4, 6-4), he set up a showdown against Kenny de Schepper. Schepper eased into the final round after second seed Donald Young retired early in the second set. Young was playing a day after his quarterfinal loss to Jack Sock at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. In the final clash Granollers edged past Schepper 6-4, 6-4 after an hour and 44 minutes. The Spaniard fended off three break points throughout the match and converted 2/11 break points.

Rosol (photo credit: Marc Imperatori)

Rosol (photo credit: Marc Imperatori)

Czech world No.69 Lukas Rosol caused an upset on his way into the main draw. The 30-year-old is yet to win a title this year and currently has a main draw win-loss this season of 19-29. Rosol started his qualifying campaign with a straightforward 6-3, 6-3, win against Moldova’s Radu Albot. In the final round he played 3rd seed Teymuraz Gabashvili, the Russian defeated Inigo Cervantes in straight sets in his first match. The Czech was forced to come from a set down to stun Gabashvili 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7). In the crucial tiebreak, Rosol squandered three match point opportunities before he was successful with his fourth.

Pablo Carreno Busta dropped 11 games in two matches during his qualifying campaign. During his first match, the world No.70 recovered from a 1-3 deficit in the second set to defeat 35-year-old German, Michael Berrer, in straight sets (6-2, 7-5). Carreno Busta avoided a final clash with Argentine 4th seed Federico Delbonis after he suffered a tough three-set loss to America’s Rajeev Ram. Earlier this year Ram claimed his second ATP title in July at the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport. After a tight opening set, the 31-year-old was blown away by Carreno busta ,6-4, 6-0, in just 58 minutes. This year the 24-year-old Spaniard has won two Challenger titles in Poznan and Perugia.

Out of the five home players participating in the draw, only one managed to grab back-to-back wins. Edouard Roger-Vasselin staged a epic comeback to upset Ukrainian 8th seed Sergiy Stakhovsky in his first match. The Frenchman trailed 4-6, 0-3, before clawing his way back in the second set on route to grabbing the seemingly unlikely victory (4-6, 6-4, 6-3). The next test for Roger-Vasselin was Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. Struff knocked out 5th seed Robin Haase in his first match. After losing a close first set tiebreak, the world No.150 won 12 out of 15 games to win 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1. The 31-year-old has enjoyed greater success on the doubles tour this year by winning three ATP titles.

Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic completes the line-up of qualifiers. Lajovic, who was unseeded in the qualifying draw, defeated 12th seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round – 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-2. The win was sweet revenge for the Serbian after he suffered a straight sets loss to the Spanish player in their previous meeting at the 2013 Buenos Aires Open. In his final qualifying match he faces France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Mathieu was originally awarded a wildcard into the main draw but refused. The Frenchman refused because he was afraid of compromising his place in the Australian Open next year. If he lost in the first round, he would of got zero points and lose 10 points. In contrast, if he played in the qualifying rounds, a win would give him 16 points which would cement his place in the main draw of the Australian Open.

The Frenchman grabbed the 16 points after beating 6th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round. Mathieu’s run was swiftly ended in the final round by Lajovic after the Serbian took the match 6-3, 6-3 to move into the main draw. The 25-year-old has so far only won one main draw match in a Masters tournament, which was in the first round of the 2014 Miami Masters.

The main draw matches
(Q) Edouard Roger-Vasselin – Ivo Karlovic ~ Karlovic has played Roger-Vasselin three times before, winning two of them. Their last meeting was at the 2013 Hall of Fame Championships where the Frenchman won in straight sets.

(Q) Lukas Rosol – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ~ This is the third meeting between the two players this year. Garcia-Lopez has won both of them in straight sets.

(Q) – Pablo Carreno-Busta – Grigor Dimitrov – Dimitrov has won their two previous encounters in straight sets. Their last meeting was in the first round of the 2014 Madrid Masters where the Bulgarian won 6-2, 6-4.

(Q) Marcel Granollers – (Q) Aljaz Bedene ~ This will be their second meeting. Last year in the first round of the Argentina Open, Granollers won in three sets.

(Q) Dusan Lajovic – (WC) Nicolas Mahut ~ first meeting

Top Seeds Shine @ChinaOpen Qualifying

Posted by Admin on October 4, 2015

Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP, Beijing. Tagged: 2015, Aljaz Bedene, atp, China Open, denis istomin, Djorde Djokovic, Lukas Rosol, novak djokovic, qualifying. Leave a comment

Top Seeds Shine @ChinaOpen Qualifying
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

The China Open has been dominated in recent years by Novak Djokovic, who is bidding to tin the title for the fourth consecutive time. Ahead of the main draw, qualifying got underway which saw the top three seeds successfully qualify.

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Top seed and British No.2 Aljaz Bedene dropped eleven games en route to the main draw. Bedene is currently at a career ranking high of 55th in the world. In his first match Bedene eased his way past Chinese wildcard Yecong He (6-3,6-0). He is currently ranked 653rd in the world and is yet to win a title. Following his win over He, Bedene faced 35-year-old Michael Berrer. Berrer defeated 7th seed Alexander Zverev in the first round. The Brit dropped his serve once to take the match 6-4,6-4.

In the first round Bedene will play Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol. Bedene has beaten the Czech twice before, but their last encounter was three years ago in the 2012 Prague Challenger.

Denis Istomin defeated Luke Saville is straight sets to set up a showdown with Chinese wildcard Zhang Zhizhen. The 18-year-old upset Lithuanian fifth seed Ricardas Berankis in the first round. Despite Istomin being ranked 500 places higher, Zhizhen unexpectedly took the first set to the delight of his home crowd. Istomin silenced the crowd by clawing his way back to win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Istomin will play another Chinese player in the main draw, Ze Zhang. Zhang is currently ranked 216th in the world which is far from his 2013 ranking high of 148.

Third seed Simone Bolelli experienced a fairly straightforward route to the main draw which included a first round win against Novak Djokovic’s brother, Djordje Djokovic. The 20-year-old Serbian received a wildcard into the draw and is ranked 1490th in the world. He has one title to his name which was a doubles title from a Futures tournament in 2013. The Italian brushed Djokovic aside 6-0,6-4. In the final round of qualifying he encountered stiffer resistance from Andrey Kuznetsov. In both sets Bolelli went down a break of service at the start before clawing his way back to win 6-2, 7-6 (2).

In the main draw Bolelli will play another Djokovic, world No.1 Novak. The top seed has an outstanding record at the tournament with a win-loss of 24-0. Since 2009 he has won the tournament five out of six times. The only exception was in 2011 when Djokovic withdrew due to a torn muscle. The Italian has played the world No.1 four times between 2006-2009 and is yet to win a match against the Serbian.

Finally, Australia’s John Millman cruised into the main draw. In the first round, he defeated fellow countryman James Duckworth (6-4, 6-4) to set up a clash with China’s Bai Yan. Yan stunned fourth seed Lucas Pouille in the first round. Yan is currently at a career ranking high of 266 in the world and has won two Futures titles this year. Despite the positive upsurge in Yan’s form, he was no match for Millman. The world No.75 dropped two games to win the match 6-1, 6-1, after sixty-three minutes.

In the first round Millman will play Spain’s Tommy Robredo. The Australian has a 2-0 head-to-head lead against Robredo. In the first round of this year’s Wimbledon tournament, he defeated the Spaniard in straight sets.

Familiar faces and potential future stars feature in 2015 Miami Open Men’s Qualifying
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

As one Masters tournament ends, another begins with the start of the qualifying rounds at the Miami Open. Like Indian Wells, the draw consists of 48 players battling for the 12 spots in the main draw. The diverse field consists of both veterans of the tour as well as young up and coming talent from the junior circuit.

Leading the field will be Brazilian top seed Joao Souza. Souza is currently at a career ranking high of 70 in the world after enduring a successful run at two ATP tournaments in Brazil last month where he reached the semifinal in Sao Paulo followed by the semifinals of the Rio Open. On the other hand Souza does have a disappointing record in Masters events. Since 2010 the 26-year-old has participated in 8 Masters qualifying draws, but has only managed to qualify in one of them (Madrid 2013). In the first round, he faces an intriguing encounter with young German hopeful Alexander Zverev. So far this year Zverev has failed to reproduce the form which took him to the semifinals of the German International Open last year and is yet to win a main draw match in 2015. The German does process weapons on the court that could trouble Souza but it is touch and go if he is currently in the right form to produce them.

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Second seed Tatsuma Ito failed to end his Masters losing streak in Miami. The Japanese player has so far never won a main draw match in any Masters tournament. Ito has enjoyed some success on the Challenger Tour this year already by reaching the final in Hong Kong and the semifinals in Kyoto, Japan. In his first match he was defeated by the experienced Michael Berrer. Berrer, who is playing his last season before retiring, enjoyed a shock win over Rafael Nadal at the start of the year in Qatar. He also recently produced an impressive run recently at Indian Wells where he reached the third round as a qualifier. Now with a win over Ito, Berrer has the inside track to qualify for his fourth ATP event of the season (Doha, Zagreb and Indian Wells the previous successes).

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Benoit Paire (3) will enter the draw with a large amount of confidence following his recent triumph’s on the Challenger Tour. The Frenchman has made three finals since February in which he has won two of them (Bergamo, Italy and Quimper, France). In his first match he defeated Austria’s Gerald Melzer in 3 sets for the first time in his career. Melzer is currently ranked 168th in the world and played in his first ever Masters qualifying draw at the age of 24.

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Rounding off the top four is Steve Darcis. The Belgian has beaten four top 100 players so far this year (Adrian Mannarino, Tatsuma Ito, Jarkko Nieminen and Jeremy Chardy). In his most recent tournament he reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Irving Challenger in Texas before losing to Kyle Edmund. In the first round, he will open up against 22-year-old Italian Marco Cecchinato. Two two has played each other once before which was on clay last year. On that occasion Cecchinato took the win in three sets.

Make way for the young guns

As well as the usual names on the entry list, the organizers of the tournament have also given some younger players the chance of qualifying for their first ever Masters tournament. 2014 US Open boy’s champion Omar Jasika has received a wildcard into the draw. Jasika was tantalizingly close to his first ever Grand Slam first round but lost in the final stage of qualifying to Marius Copil. The 17-year-old is yet to win a title at pro level. The Australian will play 19th seed Aljaž Bedene. Last week Bedene won his first title in almost a year by winning the ATP Irving Challenger.

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Elias Ymer has also been granted a wildcard into the draw. Ymer, who was recently referred to as top 50 material by former world number one Mats Wilander, reached his first Grand Slam main draw earlier this year at the Australian Open where he lost in five sets to Go Soeda. In the first round, he will play 7th seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Finally, junior world number 7 Michael Mmoh got his first taste of life on the main stage against 21st seed Alejandro Falla, a match he lost 6-2 6-1 to the experienced Colombian. Last year Mmoh won a Grade A junior tournament in Mexico and also reached the final of the prestigious Eddie Herr International Open. On the pro tour the 17-year-old has won one Futures title (USA F29 , 2014) and is currently ranked 655th in the world.

In-form players Thiemo De Bakker and Edouard Roger-Vasselin have also scored qualifying wins today, as has American Chase Buchanan over James Ward, and Japanese young gun Taro Daniel. Daniel’s countryman Yoshihito Nishioka wasn’t as successful as he lost to Damir Dzumhur in straights.

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Adam Addicott TA Watermark

Nishioka, Kokkinakis, and Ginepri among possible qualifiers in Delray Beach (ATP Delray Day 2 Qualies Recap)

Posted by Admin on February 15, 2015

Posted in: Delray Beach, Guest Writer, On Site. Tagged: 2015 ATP Delray Beach Open qualifying, 2015 ATP Delray qualifying, 2015 Delray Beach Open, 2015 Delray Beach Open by the Venetian Las Vegas, 2015 Delray Beach Open presented by the Venetian Las Vegas, alex kuznetsov, Aljaz Bedene, atp, ATP 250, ATP Delray, ATP Delray 2015, ATP Delray qualifying, ATP World Tour, delray beach, Delray Beach Florida, Delray Beach Open, Delray Beach Open by the Venetian Las Vegas, Delray Beach Open Presented by the Venetian Las Vegas, Delray Beach Open qualifying, Delray Beach Qualifying, Delray Beach Tennis, Delray Tennis, Eric Quigley, Guido Andreozzi, Jessica Luzadas, jp smith, Marcos Giron, Robby Ginperi, tennis, Tennis Florida, Thanasi Kokkinakis, USTA Florida, Victor Hanescu, Yoshihito Nishioka.

Nishioka, Kokkinakis, and Ginepri among possible qualifiers in Delray Beach (ATP Delray Day 2 Qualies Recap)
Jessica Luzadas for Tennis Atlantic

Tennis Atlantic is proud to present on site credentialed coverage from local Delray Beach journalist Jessica Luzadas, who is reporting for us on site this week at the tournament. Jessica was on site today, and will provide coverage of the action tomorrow, and next weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) for Tennis Atlantic at the Delray Beach Open. Here is her first report-the editors

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Nishioka celebrates his tough round 2 qualies win

Nishioka celebrates his tough round 2 qualies win

Young guns Yoshihito Nishioka, Thanasi Kokkinakis, and American veteran Robby Ginepri were among qualifying winners in the second round of qualifying, completed today at the Delray Beach Open in Delray Beach, Florida. The Japanese player Nishioka scored a win over American Marcos Giron a former UCLA product, he came back from dropping the first set 4-6 to win the final two frames 6-3 6-2, as Nishioka starting mixing in aces (8 over the final two sets) and frustrating Giron who wilted in the end, allowing Nishioka to win 29 out of 47 points in the third set. Previously, Nishioka defeated former VA Tech Hokie Patrick Daciek in the first round of qualifying in 3 sets 6-3 4-6 6-4.

Thanasi Kokkinakis continued his rise to ATP stardom, dominating Argentine Guido Andreozzi 6-3 6-2. Andreozzi clearly preferred playing on clay as he generated just one break point against the Australian, in a contest that barely last an hour. On Saturday, Kokkinakis likewise had no problem earning a win, beating wild card Ty Trombetta 6-1 6-4.

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A player with much more experience than those two young guns, American Robby Ginepri, the former US Open semifinalist (the last American to reach the semis of a slam), defeated an in-form Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-4. Bedene, previously reached the final in Chennai this year as a qualifier and also qualified for the Australian Open, but on this day Ginepri played more efficient tennis, breaking Bedene on 4 out of 5 chances, twice in each set, to win the match. Ginepri’s third round qualifying opponent will be JP Smith of Australia, the former Tennessee Volunteer beat Kiwi Michael Venus, who formerly played at LSU. The scoreline for that one was 2-6 6-2 6-4. Previously Ginepri beat Gianni Mina in round 1 6-2 6-2, and Smith beat young American Jared Donaldson who was coming off a win in the Memphis maindraw, in round 1, in an upset. Kokkinakis’ third round opponent will be American veteran Alex Kuznetsov, Alex K beat Chunan Wang of China in round 2 today 6-4 7-6(5). Kuznetsov beat 19 year old Spaniard Jaume Pla Malfeito in round 1 on Saturday 6-4 6-1.

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For Nishioka, American Sekou Bangoura awaits in round 3 tomorow, Bangoura pulled off a slight upset over young American Noah Rubin 6-4 2-6 6-4. The 18 year old Rubin, who is 0-2 in previous ATP level main draw matches, will not have his third try at a main draw win in Delray Beach this week. Previously Bangoura beat Artem Smirnov 3-6 6-4 7-6(7).

The final qualifying spot will be decided between veteran Romanian Victor Hanescu, who normally has his best showings on clay, or American Eric Quigley. Hanescu beat James McGee 6-3 4-6 6-4 on Saturday and Pavel Krainik 6-2 6-3 today. Quigley beat Facundo Mena 6-7(2) 6-3 6-3 on Saturday, then slipped past Chase Buchanan, a former Ohio State product, in a 3 set epic today 4-6 7-6(7) 7-6(3). Tomorrow in Delray I will have coverage of the final round qualifying matches along with main draw action featuring exciting talents Alex Dolgopolov, Denis Kudla, and Dustin Brown among others.

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TA Valencia