Playing at home, Alexander Zverev defended his Munich title with a 6-3 6-3 victory over countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber. Zverev beat two other Germans this week, Yannick Hanfmann in three sets, and Jan-Lennard Struff in straights, his semifinal opponent was Hyeon Chung, who he also put away in straights.
The veteran Kohlschreiber didn’t drop a set prior to the final, scoring wins against Ivo Karlovic, Mischa Zverev, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Max Marterer. The doubles title went to Rajeev Ram and Ivan Dodig, they defeated Mektic/Peya.
Japan’s Taro Daniel won his first ever ATP title, capturing the Istanbul trophy 7-6 6-4 over Malek Jaziri, a feisty veteran that was also seeking his first ever ATP title. Daniel grinded away wins this week against Matteo Berrettini, Aljaz Bedene, Rogerio Dutra Silva, and Jeremy Chardy, the latter two wins coming in three sets.
Jaziri had a special week defeating Marsel Ilhan, Marin Cilic, Jiri Vesely (in 3 sets), and Laslo Djere.
Inglot/Lindstedt won the doubles title over Mclachlan/Monroe.
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.
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.
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.
Zverev Wins Emotional First Title in Germany, Cilic Finds Form in Istanbul Steen Kirby and Manuel Traquete, Tennis Atlantic
ATP Munich
Alexander Zverev won his third career ATP title and his first in his home country of Germany, an emotional moment for the 20 year old who put his skills on display and thumped Guido Pella 6-4 6-3 in the final, dropping a set in just one of his four matches at the BMW Open this week. Zverev, one of the tournament favorites, beat Jeremy Chardy and Roberto Bautista Agut in a pair of close sets, and in the quarterfinals he needed three sets and a tiebreak to defeat countryman J.L. Struff. Zverev has had a great season thus far and could be challenging for the top 10 soon.
Pella, a 26 year old now 0-2 in ATP finals, is a clay specialist and came through qualifying defeating Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Fabio Fognini, Horacio Zeballos, and Hyeon Chung to reach the final. Zeballos and Chung were three setters, as Chung came up just short of making it an all ATP next-gen final after upsetting Gael Monfils earlier in the tournament. Zeballos couldn’t outmuscle his countryman on clay.
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah teamed up for more success on clay beating Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin in the doubles final.
ATP Istanbul
After struggling to start the year out, Marin Cilic moved to 6-1 on clay this year and helped protect his top 10 ranking with a 7-6 6-3 victory over Milos Raonic, who also found renewed form in Istanbul this week. Cilic now has 17 career titles and hasn’t dropped a set in his six wins on clay this season. In Istanbul he defeated Damir Dzumhur, Steve Darcis, and Diego Schwartzman in relatively easy fashion.
Raonic is 14-3 this year and reached his second final of the season after beating Aljaz Bedene, Bernard Tomic and Viktor Troicki, against Bedene he needed a third set tiebreak to prevail, but his level of tennis improved as the week went on, and he could serve as dark horse at Roland Garros.
Czech’s Roman Jebavy and Jiri Vesely won via a double bagel in the doubles final over Turkey’s Tuna Altuna and Italian Alessandro Motti, the most lopsided doubles final on tour this year.
ATP Estoril
Pablo Carreno Busta claimed his first ATP title on clay and his third overall ATP title, moving to 15-5 on clay this season with a routine 6-2 7-6 victory over surprise finalist Gilles Muller. PCB got ahead early and was never threatened, although Muller served better in the second set, Carreno Busta just nipping the tiebreak after beating three Spaniards this week to reach the final. Muller moves to 4-2 on clay this year and will look to keep the momentum up for his part.
Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus upset Tommy Robredo and David Marrero in straight sets to take the doubles final after a surprising week on clay.
2017 ATP Istanbul Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The third year in a row the ATP has a tournament in Istanbul on clay, here is your preview with predictions for Turkey’s only ATP tournament.
TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open
ATP World Tour 250
Istanbul, Turkey
May 1-7, 2017
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €439,005
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Milos Raonic (6)
2: Marin Cilic (8)
3: Diego Schwartzman (34)
4: Paolo Lorenzi (38)
Istanbul has a solid top 2 but it drops off from there into the parity of the ATP’s top 40.
Basilashvili leads Khachanov 2-1 in the h2h but on clay the Russian will be favored. A quarterfinalist in Barcelona, Khachanov’s form is also slightly better, although Basilashvili has had a great season overall. Both of these players are rising, and this is an interesting test as to who is the better player right now.
Damir Dzumhur vs. (Q)Stefanos Tsitsipas
Greek young gun Tsitispas will get his third shot at a maiden ATP main draw win against Dzumhur who is in average form at best. Tsitsipas came through qualifying, and he has enough of a game to win this, Dzumhur can be a tough customer but I’ll back the young gun to get it done.
Top Half
A winner of sixteen of his last seventeen matches, Aljaz Bedene should ease past Marton Fucsovics and then get a big match with top seed Milos Raonic. Raonic, 11-2 this year, hasn’t played since Miami, but is usually competitive on clay, although not elite. Presuming Raonic is healthy he should put away Budapest finalist Bedene and then defeat Rogerio Dutra Silva in the quarters. RDS opens with Riccardo Bellotti and neither Radu Albo or Bernard Tomic, one of whom will await in round 2, are great on clay or in good form. Raonic has a pretty easy path to the semis excluding Bedene.
Budapest semifinalist Laslo Djere should beat Daniel Brands before falling to Paolo Lorenzi, who is 9-6 on clay this year and makes his living grinding away in 250’s like this. Marcos Baghdatis is not great on clay, and Viktor Troicki should win his round 1 match against a fellow veteran and then beat the winner Basilashvili/Khachanov winner. Lorenzi is the favorite to reach the semis in this section.
Bottom Half
Marin Cilic has struggled this year but on clay he should be good enough to reach the quarters past Tsitsipas or Dzumhur. Cilic should then run into Jiri Vesely, as Vesely is the clear favorite over Marcel Granollers, and the winner of Steve Darcis/Dudi Sela. Vesely will have a punchers chance against Cilic, but Marin is the veteran favorite for a reason.
Monte Carlo quarterfinalist Diego Schwartzman, the defending champion, looks set to defeat either qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras or young gun Jordan Thompson, then edge past Borna Coric in the quarters, presuming Coric defeats Dusan Lajovic and Mikhail Youzhny or local favorite Cem Ilkel. It’s a tough call between DSS and Coric, but I back Schwartzman’s form barely right now.
If Cilic puts up another poor performance Vesely should be the player to take advantage, he has a great shot to reach at least the semifinals, and could perhaps take this title. The Czech has underperformed in his young career after entering the main tour with promise, but it’s not too late to turn that around.
Predictions
Semis Raonic d. Lorenzi
Cilic d. Schwartzman
The top 2 seeds should be favorites over dirtballing specialists in the semifinals.
Final Cilic d. Raonic
On clay I give Cilic the slightest edge to take this title.
Unseeded Nicolas Almagro captured his first ATP title since 2012 with a three set victory in nearly three hours over young Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. Almagro serviced twice for the opening set, at 5-4, and 6-5, but was broken both times by PCB, before eventually losing the first set tiebreak 8-6, in a show of mental weakness.
In set 2, Almagro was again 5-3 up, and served for the set, but was broken, only this time he won the tiebreak 7-5, converting his second set point chance of set 2. In the third he finally heaped the pressure on, forcing PCB to save multiple break points two games, and breaking in two more games, all while holding his own serve without incident to win the match. He converted his third match point, and with it, won the title.
This match was a tremendous mental and emotional turnaround for Almagro, in a grueling clay court battle. He demonstrated superior talent, but PCB was not an easy opponent to dispatch.
It was once again an exciting tournament for the Estoril Open, the stands were filled to capacity for the final, and most of the big matches, as Portugese fans turned out to show their support and dedication to Portugal’s only ATP event.
Tennis Atlantic would like to once again thank the tournament for allowing us to provide credentialed media coverage.
Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem went to war and brought out the heavy artillery on clay in Munich, as Kohlschreiber prevailed in narrow fashion by winning a third set tiebreak, after dropping the second set. Kohlschreiber once again showed his love and appreciation for the tournament in Munich, as he won here for the third time in his career.
Kohlschreiber served for the opening set twice, after five separate breaks in the set, but he failed to convert any of his five set point opportunities until the opening set tiebreak. In that tiebreak, neither player demonstrated much in the way of holding serve, but Kohlschreiber finally won it 9-7, on his eight set point chance.
In set two, things were surprisingly closer to the vest, as Thiem managed to hold his way through the set, saving a break point at the end of it, to maintain the lone break advantage he captured, and take it 6-4.
In the third, Thiem found himself broken easily to go 4-2 down, but Kohlschreiber again failed to serve the match out at 5-3, getting broken at love, and then he couldn’t convert either of his match point chances, with Thiem serving 4-5, to win the match.
The third set tiebreak saw six minibreaks between the players, and Kohlschreiber was able to win consecutive minibreaks from 5-4 up to walk away with the trophy.
Thiem showed his skill with a semifinal win over Alexander Zverev, but he just didn’t have that extra experience in the final, while Kohlschreiber beat accomplished clay courters Fabio Fognini, and Thiem, in consecutive fashion, showing he could serve as a bit of a French Open dark horse later on this month.
The doubles title was captured by Henri Kontinen and John Peers over Cabal/Farah.
Tennis Atlantic would like to once again thank the tournament for allowing us to provide credentialed media coverage.
Diego Schwartzman stunned Grigor Dimitrov to capture his maiden title, as the undersized Argentine clawed back from a set and a break down to defeat the cramping, and incredibly frustrated Bulgarian #1 in front of a packed house in Istanbul.
The victory was the biggest of Schwartzman’s career, as the 23 year old who clocks in at just 5-6, 140 lbs beat a host of clay courters, and won three consecutive three set matches this week. The first set featured a ton of breaks, but Dimitrov eventually edged it 7-6, in set 2 Dimitrov was 5-2, and 5-3 up, but couldn’t close out the match, while DSS failed at his own chance to serve out the set. Schwartzman went on to win the tiebreak, and then bagel a hobbled Dimitrov, who was given a game penalty at the end of the match due to his frustrated behavior, in the third set.
Schwartzman beat Facundo Bagnis, Bernard Tomic, Damir Dzumhur, and Federico Delbonis this week as well, winning three setters against Dzumhur, and Delbonis. He was playing in his first ever ATP final.
Dimitrov hasn’t won a singles final since 2014, as he dropped his third consecutive ATP final, and his second of the season. In both finals this year, he found himself a set up, but lost in the end. Grisha is still a great talent, but he appears mentally troubled at the moment, as he’s failed to live up to his potential, and still sits outside of the top 20.
Dimitrov beat Adrian Ungur, in three sets, Jiri Vesely, and the big server Ivo Karlovic this week.
Veterans Flavio Cipolla and Dudi Sela beat Andres Molteni, and Schwartzman in narrow fashion to capture the doubles title, as DSS was likely too fatigued after playing the singles final.
2016 ATP Istanbul Preview and Predictions Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The third ATP tournament this week is a clay 250 in Istanbul, Turkey. This tournament is in the second year of its existence, and is one of the few tournaments in the Middle East.
TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open
ATP World Tour 250
Istanbul, Turkey
April 25-May 1st, 2016
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: €426,530
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Bernard Tomic (21)
2: Grigor Dimitrov (28)
3: Ivo Karlovic (29)
4: Federico Delbonis (40)
This is the weakest ATP tournament this week with two of the top four seeds likely to exit early.
First round matchups to watch:
Facundo Bagnis vs. Diego Sebastian Schwartzman
Schwartzman leads the h2h with Bagnis 2-1, and it’s a battle of rising Argentines. Bagnis has a quarterfinal in Casablanca on his recent record, while DSS has just one win in his last five matches. I favor Bagnis to prevail in a tough battle.
Top Half:
Bernard Tomic is the top seed, but he’s terrible on clay and I have him losing to either DSS or Bagnis in the second round. Current Bucharest finalist Lucas Pouille has to play Monday in Romania, and then travel to Istanbul to face Illya Marchenko. He should win that match and continue his good form, but I have Damir Dzumhur beating Teymuraz Gabashvili, and then Pouille, for a spot in the quarterfinals, due to fatigue for Pouille. Dzumhur isn’t a great player, but Gabashvili is in poor form, and Bagnis is my semifinalist from an open first section.
Federico Delbonis is 10-5 on clay this season and just made the semis in Bucharest, after taking the title in Casablanca. Delbonis will open with Dudi Sela, or qualifier Andrey Rublev in round 2. Rublev is better on clay than Sela, but Delbonis has the edge to reach the quarterfinals. Albert Ramos isn’t in great form, but he’s better on clay than Adrian Mannarino, he’ll have a tough match wild card Karen Khachanov in round 2, after Khachanov defeats Aljaz Bedene. Given it’s clay, I have Delbonis defeating Ramos for a semifinal spot.
Grigor Dimitrov is the most talented player in this field, and he should roll to the quarterfinals, with a win over Filip Krajinovic, or qualifier Adrian Ungur. Jiri Vesely is 5-2 in recent clay court matches, and stands in the way of Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. Vesely opens with Thiemo De Bakker, with Roberto Carballes Baena, or wild card Marsel Ilhan to follow. Dimitrov beat Vesely on clay last year, and thus I have him reaching the semifinals of a tournament for the third time this season.
Ivo Karlovic is 0-6 on the season and thus I have qualifier Renzo Olivo defeating Dusan Lajovic, and then Karlovic for a quarterfinal spot. Monte Carlo quarterfinalist Marcel Granollers should defeat local favorite Cem Ilkel and then qualifier Carlos Berlocq, or Hyeon Chung to reach the quarterfinals. I have Granollers showing his veteran talent to reach the semis over Olivo.
Bagnis could win the title here, but I do have him going as far as the semifinals, given he’s in a very winnable section. This young Argentine could have a breakthrough this week.
Predictions
Semis Delbonis d. Bagnis
Dimitrov d. Granollers
Delbonis leads Bagnis 3-2 in the h2h, Dimitrov has a clay win over Granollers and should prevail in that matchup as well.
Final Dimitrov d. Delbonis
Delbonis could win the title, but Dimitrov has to be the favorite this time.
Roger Federer Claims Inaugural Istanbul Open Title Ahmet Fevzi Guclu for Tennis Atlantic
Federer claimed the crown, Cuevas was runner-up (photo credit:; Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
Heavy rain stopped just before the match today, and the final of the tournament started on time without a delay in Istanbul in front of 7,000 spectators. Roger Federer didn’t make the mistake Dimitrov did yesterday and never hesitated to be in a rally against Pablo Cuevas’ BH. Federer broke the Uruguayan in his first service game, and won the first set 6-3. In the Second set, Cuevas began to play much more aggressive, while Federer was running around the balls on his BH to hit inside out forehands. Cuevas had a bad service day, also his performance was mediocre overall.
Federer was a bit better today compared to his previous matches here. The Swiss got the break in perfect time against Cuevas, and served to make it 5-3 in the second set. but failed in the crucial moment, with unusual errors. Then Federer got chances to break again in the very following game, but after some brave points from Cuevas he held the game. It went to a TB, where crazy, undefinable things occurred. Cuevas got the first minibreak, and lost it with the UE. Then, Uruguayan double faulted in 4-4, and Federer got 2 MP, after winning the next point. Cuevas saved them all, and ridiculous errors and brilliant shots followed afterwards, included an amazing BH DTL return winner on SP down by Federer -which he explained in press with the line ‘’I got lucky”.
It was a packed house (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
It was all over when Cuevas made the last UE of the match at *11-12, and Federer became the inaugural, and expected champion of Istanbul Open. This is Federer’s first ever red clay title in 6 years, since winning French Open in 2009. How the World No. 2 will transform this form to bigger tournaments, is yet to be seen. After his press conference, a few members of the press lined up for photos with the inaugural champion who graced Istanbul with his legendary presence.
It was a worthy finale in Istanbul (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
Federer Will Face Cuevas in Inaugural Istanbul Open Final
Ahmet Fevzi Guclu for Tennis Atlantic
Federer took out a pesky Schwartzman in 3 sets (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
On semifinal Saturday of the Istanbul Open, Roger Federer had to fight hard yet again, to be the first finalist of the day. Diego Schwartzman broke twice Federer in a set he moved very well in and Federer was again terrible at returning and limiting his amount of unforced errors. The world number 2 struggled get his clay game back in Istanbul, and there were also many shanks from the Swiss. During the second, Federer served in high level, and raised the pressure on DSS’s service games, which resulted in breaking him twice. Federer recovered from losing the first set 2-6, to recycle that score and force a third with a 6-2 second set.
The third set featured beautiful tennis, with DSS painting the lines with wonderful point construction, and hard work. The young guns deep hitting was an effective tactic against Federer but Federer got break point chances in 3 service games of the Argentine. DSS’s awful net play today, and considerable amount of random errors in crucial times cost him the match, as Federer finaly broke at 6-5, and won the match in the third. This will be the 4th ATP tour final for the Swiss this year. Also it was a positive week for Schwartzman, and he got a standing ovation from the crowd, after his legendary performance today, with the chants of “Diego” even though they were rooting mainly for Federer the whole match.
[1] R. Federer (SUI) d [8] D. Schwartzman (ARG) 26 62 75
The second semi final of the day, was disappointment, for the crowd, who expected much better performance from Grigor Dimitrov. Pablo Cuevas, was solid again, playing an aggressive match this time, while Bulgarian was the one who was hanging on by his fingernails. The world no:11 was not playing his high level of tennis today and got broken five times by Cuevas in a match lasted barely more than a hour, which should be worrying for Dimitrov. Cuevas was the better side, and has the better clay game between the two. After watching their Grisha’s unexpectedly abysmal performance, many Bulgarians left the stadium with much frustration and sadness. Cuevas, made his second final this year, after the win in Sao Paolo, and continued to play a game which is suited nicely to clay.
Albot/Lajovic beat Guccione/Sa 6-4 7-6(5) to setup a doubles final against Lindstedt/Melzer the top seeded team.
Tomorrow’s final should be comfortable win for Federer, if he raises his level, even a bit. The Swiss is far superior player to Cuevas in every aspect of the game. They have never played before, which is interesting. If 1st seed keeps his bad form, and doesn’t bring his A game though, it may turn to a bit tricky meeting especially on clay against the Uruguayan. Still I’d go with two close sets, like 7-6 7-5 for Federer tomorrow. The final match of the inaugural ATP Istanbul Open, starts at 5 pm local time.
Federer, Dimitrov, Schwartzman, and Cuevas reach Istanbul Open 2015 semifinals Ahmet Fevzi Guclu for Tennis Atlantic
Federer won a thriller (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
It was sunny day at the Istanbul Open today. Due to May day demonstrations against the government, police bottlenecked public transportation, which resulted in difficulties for fans trying to reach the venue, Still, that didn’t prevent thousands of them thronging to see Federer, and Dimitrov among the big names in action.
The day started with impressive youngster Diego Schwartzman facing 4th seed Santiago Giraldo. The Colombian stormed past the first set in 20 min, and stunned both Schwartzman and the crowd. The second set, again saw a break by Giraldo in the very first game, as he capitalized to make it 2-0. Suddenly, Schwartzman raised his level, and began to play much more aggressive with the perfect movement. The Argentine won six games in a row, and made it to final set. For a third consecutive time, Giraldo broke in the first game of the set, but got broken thanks to his silly mistake, and a good fight by Schwartzman. Giraldo was serving abysmally at this point, and the first hold came for 2-2. Schwartzman saved three break points with wonderful shotmaking and point constructing as we are used to seeing from him this week. Giraldo threw his racket at this point, and started whine about crowd, resulting in him getting booed for around 2 minutes. The set was basically decided at this point, and Giraldo lost five straight games to drop the match. Giraldo was the favorite but he missed his chances, and DSS reached his first ever ATP semifinal.
Schwartzman d. Giraldo 0-6 6-2 6-2
Schwartzman reached his first ATP semi (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
The packed stadium was ready for Roger Federer meeting No: 62 Daniel Gimeno-Traver for the second QF. Federer after winning his service game, broke the Spaniard only to get broken back in following game. Then, an even set started, both players cruised in their service games with the help of their opponent putting up a multitude of unforced errors. Federer couldn’t get the break in the 4-3* game where he missed three break point chances. The set was decided by TB, which was entertaining. Federer finished it winning with beautiful points.
Federer won a tough first set (photo credit; Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
DGT was the better player in the second, with deep shots often on his forehand side, and wonderfully executed drop shots, troubling Federer unexpectedly. Federer made many mistakes when returning, also his BH didn’t work as he wished. The Spaniard despite losing the break advantage when serving for *5-3, still won the set in the TB. The Third set started tense, Federer had to save four break points in the opener with a lot of “Komm Jetz” from the world No:2, which was crucially important for both side. After Fed’s surviving, the match balanced out yet again into a classical clay court battle. Eventually, Federer broke DGT in the 4-3* game with great crowd support on his back, and served out without any incident. Swiss was the second semifinalist of the day, after the long struggling match lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes.
Federer d. Gimeno-Traver 7-6(3) 6-7(5) 6-3
During the first match of the night session, there were around 300 Bulgarian fans with their flag in the stands, to support their countryman Grigor Dimitrov for his match against Croatian veteran Ivan Dodig. The world No:11 was far superior as expected, Dodig played some good points here and there, but his level was never catching Dimitrov’s high quality. The Bulgarian played very aggressive, and made Dodig run a lot, benefiting from the No:107’s poor movement. Despite the unnecessary amount of UE’s from Dimitrov, his performance was enough to routine Dodig without much trouble. Dimitrov seemed very motivated to reach the SF at the Istanbul Open, in front of the fans from his homeland.
Dimitrov d. Dodig 6-4 6-3
Bulgarian fans were excited to see Grisha (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
In the final match of the night session, which was another late nighter, Thomaz Bellucci couldn’t continue his fairytale run against Pablo Cuevas, and let his opponent revenge the loss in Miami.The Brazilian played a high-risk match as his forehand was again very powerful, same as his shotmaking capability, but the Uruguayan grinded through the many games, while getting almost every ball back, especially after he was down 3-1 in the first. Cuevas played solid, and broke again the Brazilian in the last game, to win the set 7-5. In the second, Bellucci broke himself twice, and lost the match, despite the fact that he was the one who offered enjoyable tennis most of the time. Cuevas didn’t make many unforced errors, started to serve wonderful after the middle of the second set, and never gave a chance to lefty again. Cuevas was the last semi-finalist of the day and received standing ovation from around 100 people left in the stadium.
Cuevas d. Bellucci 7-5 6-3
Cuevas was less exciting but more effective (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
Tomorrow, the semi finals day, the first match starts at 3:30 pm local time, where Federer will be the obvious favourite against Schwartzman, who he has beaten this season. Then Dimitrov faces Cuevas, a match match which is expected to be a close battle with Dimitrov the favorite.
In Mens doubles, Lindstedt/Melzer beat Daniell/Grialdo 6-2 6-1, to reach the final, with Guccione/Sa and Albot/Lajovic playing the other doubles semi on Saturday.
Federer, Gimeno-Traver setup quarterfinal clash at 2015 Istanbul Open Wednesday Ahmet Fevzi Guclu for Tennis Atlantic
Federer captivated crowds in his Wednesday victory (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
Day 3 at the Istanbul open, saw only four men’s singles matches.
Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver beat 6th seed Kukushkin, in straight sets, and made the QF of ATP 250 tournament three times in a row. The Kazakh was helpless and Gimeno-Traver was effective with his forehand.
Gimeno-Traver d. Kukushkin 6-3 6-3
Second match on the Center Court, was a beatdown, between the undersized Argentine Diego Schwartzman and veteran Jurgen Melzer. It was one of the best matches I have seen Schwartzman play, great shot-making with also enormous foot work. Melzer, on the other hand, was poor throughout the match. He earned a couple of break point chances early in the second, but failed to take it, thanks to aggressive plays from the 8th seed on those points. 52 min was enough for Schartzman for the in the end.
Schwartzman d. Melzer 6-0 6-2
In the first match of the night session, 4th seed Santiago Giraldo prevailed over Andrey Rublev in a very tight 3 setter. In the first set, after two breaks from the each, The Colombian broke again in a long game at 2-2, which decided the set. Rublev, after losing the first set, went to bathroom break, and came back calmly. The world No: 292, cruised in the second, breaking the 4th seed two times, and won the set pretty comfortably. This effort from the Russian teenager, set the first ever 3 setter at the Istanbul Open main draw. In the third set both players got chances for early breaks with, No further break point chances occurred until the 6th game of the set, where Rublev made some unforced errors, and Giraldo won the game with his experience. Then the Colombian served out and won the third set, while Rublev whined a lot to himself, and threw his racquet Still, it was a good showing from the youngster. Crowd adored the effort that the young gun put in.
Giraldo d. Rublev 6-4 1-6 6-3
The scene for Giraldo-Rublev (photo credit: Ahmet Fevzi Guclu)
In the last match of the night session, 1st seed Roger Federer routined Jarkko Nieminen,with the mostly packed stadium cheering him on. The Swiss maestro started his first ever match in Turkey with a break, while the Finnish played poorly in the first, Federer was good enough to win the set 6-2 in a very shot time. The second was a bit tricky, with both players raising their level. Nieminen fought well with his limited game, Federer looked good on forehand, and also served worked great. It was an even set, the Finnish escaping his every service game, but he couldn’t make it to tiebreak, where he may have had a chance to force a third, and lost the 5-5 game despite having a game point.
Federer served out comfortably afterwards, and made it to QF at the Istanbul Open. The crowd went crazy with the joy of seeing him play for the first time. Federer said, it was slow and humid out there, as expected for night clay match, regarding the surface at the press conference.
Wednesday Doubles Scores:
Bury/Gabashvili d. Martin/Raja 6-2 6-3
Golubev/Istomin d. Kukushkin/Nedovyesov 6-3 6-4
Guccione/Sa d. Altuna/Basilashvili 6-3 6-2
Albot/Lajovic d. Marach/Oswald 6-7(9) 6-2 10-8
Tennis Atlantic 