Thursday, 12 April 2018

Querrey early Houston casualty

In Marrakech, Philipp Kohlschreiber (3) lost in a major upset as the last three first round matches were completed.

Algerian born (but now representing Morocco) Lamine Ouahab, a veteran like Kohlschreiber, and currently ranked 617 (career high 114 in 2009), won in three sets 2-6 6-0 7-6(3).

Top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas joined Philipp in the departure lounge following one of the four second round battles decided.  His conqueror was qualifier Alexey Vatutin, ranked 160, 7-6(4) 6-2


Two quarter finals are set, one an unseeded affair, the other an all French tussle between Richard Gasquet (4) and Gilles Simon.


Houston lost Verdasco (6) in round one, but the bigger shock was Sam Querrey (2) exiting in the second round, after a first round bye.  

Guido Pella couldn’t touch the American’s big serve in set one, as Querrey won all points on his first serve, and seven of eleven on his second delivery.  The set was over 6-2 and Sam was on schedule for an easy victory.


However, despite poor first serve percentages for both players, the second set provided no breaks and a tie break was required.  Pella won through 7 points to 4 and the match was going the distance.

Pella’s first serve percentage was even worse (38%) in the decider, yet he won a greater share of points on his serve than Querrey.

Ultimately both players achieved a single break, and the match hung on another tie break.

Pella controlled this one again 7-3, and upset the crowd.  More importantly he upset Sam Querrey 2-6 7-6(4) 7-6(3).

In another second round match, wildcard Nick Kyrgios (4) needed to go the distance to eliminate Bjorn Fratangelo 6-7(2) 6-1 6-2


In Bogotá the first round is complete, and seeds to fall are

Veronica Cepede Royg (4) - defeated by wildcard Emiliana Arango, 17 years old and ranked 510, 6-0 2-6 6-4

Alison Riske (6) - defeated by Dalila Jakupovic 6-2 6-2

Ajla Tomljanovic (8) - defeated by qualifier Renata Zarazua 1-6 6-4 7-6(6)


Progress in the Lugano tournament is slow, with only 9 first round matches complete at this stage 

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