Men’s semis over in Antalya and Eastbourne

Eastbourne and Antalya men’s semi finals were held today

Eastbourne:

Lukas Lacko defeated Marco Cecchinato (4) 6-3 6-4

Lacko achieved his highest world ranking of 44 in January 2013.

He has reached the third round of Wimbledon in 2012 where he was stopped by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and 2016, where as a qualifier he made it to the main draw and beat Lorenzi and Karlovic before Marin Cilic defied his progress.

He has won 12 Challenger Tour titles from 21 finals, including recently two in November 2017 and one in May this year.

He will play Mischa Zverev in the final

Mischa Zverev defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 7=6(9) 6-4

Zverev leads the head to head against Lacko 4-2, but five of those matches were played in 2006-2013.

2006 - Germany Futures

2007 - Wroclaw and Istanbul Challengers 

All won by Zverev 

2012 - Doha ATP 250 qualifying 

2013 - Le Gosier Challenger 

Both won by Lacko

The most relevant match between the pair was the opening round in Halle last year, on grass, where Zverev won 6-4 6-4. 

Antalya:

Damir Dzumhur (2) defeated Jiri Vesely 6-3 7-6(1)

He will play Adrian Mannarino in the final

Adrian Mannarino (1) defeated wildcard Gaël Monfils (4) in a battle of the Frenchman over two hours 4-6 7-6(4) 6-4

Mannarino leads the head to head against Dzumhur 2-0, but it means little since those matches were a Sarajevo Challenger in 2013 and the 2014 Winston-Salem ATP 250 tournament.

Wozniacki d Kerber - in Eastbourne final again

After two scintillating sets of tennis - some of the best  you would see on a grass court, Angie Kerber (4) and Caroline Wozniacki (1) were a set all in the second semi final at Eastbourne.

Kerber had match point at 6-5, after winning the opening set 6-2 and fighting back from 1-4 in set two, but Wozniacki went on a tear, winning the next seven points to break serve, win the set and go ahead 4-0 in the tie break.

Kerber steadied for 2-4, but a brilliant touch backhand from Wozniacki saw her two points from the set.

A drop shot worked this time for Kerber and 5-3 Wozniacki.  A backhand hit long by the German presented Wozniacki with three set points.

One saved with a stunning forehand down the line. The second did the trick - a delicious off forehand return off a second serve and sets were one apiece.  Kerber 6-2 6-7(4)

Winners from both sides assisted Kerber to hold serve 1-0.  

A backhand pass from Wozniacki had her on track to hold, but errors halted her momentum and a break point came Kerber’s way. An ace saved it.  A backhand winner and game point.  A big serve and big hold for 1-1.

Four errors - three Danish and one German - led Kerber to 40-15.  A double fault and Wozniacki luck with a net cord, and it was deuce.

Kerber forced a forehand mistake to create another game point.  She held for 2-1.

A German forehand put away at the net, plus a Danish mistake, helped Kerber to 30-30 on the Wozniacki serve, but the top seed held firm and 2-2.

A Wozniacki backhand winner and an exchange of errors, more by Kerber, set up two break points for Caroline.  A double fault sealed the break and Wozniacki led 3-2, now with the clear momentum.

An ace for 15-0.  A Kerber backhand winner and Wozniacki error 15-30.

Return long 30-30. Game point after a wide backhand.  Return netted and Wozniacki led 4-2.

A quick service hold, a love game in fact, by Kerber and it kept her in touch at 3-4.

A netted shot from Wozniacki and a winning forehand by Kerber 0-30.

Germany found the net, then hit wide to make it 30-30. A drop shot/lob combo set up break point for Kerber. Saved with a cool Wozniacki drop shot.  Game point with the pace of Wozniacki to reach another Kerber drop shot.  Excellent work at the net by Caroline this time as Angie tried the lob once more.

Service held for 5-3.

A second straight love game from Angie, but at 5-4 Wozniacki would serve for a place in the final.

A Kerber down the line winner ended a top rally 0-15.  An ace for 15-15. The net for Wozniacki and 15-30.  A Danish off forehand winner 30-30.  Forehand stunner from Angie and a break back chance.  Caroline saved it behind a big serve and quality follow up.

Match point as Angie found the net.  Backhand winner did it.

Caroline Wozniacki won a terrific match 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 and will play Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

She will be hoping to go one better than last year when she lost to Karolina Pliskova in that final

Both Caroline and Angie look in fine shape for Wimbledon next week.

Sabalenka d Radwanska to reach Eastbourne final

Semi final day in England and Turkey, and first up at seaside Eastbourne the unseeded clash between 2012 Wimbledon finalist Aga Radwanska and first time Premier level semi finalist Aryna Sabalenka.

The Belarusian won the toss and chose to serve, Radwanska to receive.

The first game was a struggle for Sabalenka, a winner at the net and two forehand winners not enough to save the second of two break points.  A Radwanska lob was an early pointer to what we might see from the delightful Polish racquet.

Sabalenka forehand attack forced an immediate break back and 1-1.

Refreshing to see Sabalenka on grass - her game is well suited to the surface and she is unafraid to move forward and finish points.

However, with the attack comes risk, and the backhand failed on another break point, giving Radwanska the lead 2-1.

An awesome game from Sabalenka - she made ground to a Radwanska drop shot and hit a winner down the line, then pounded a return backhand return winner.  A forehand sizzler set up three break points, and another stunning backhand achieved the fourth successive service break for 2-2.

A Sabalenka winner, then Radwanska replied to a drop shot with a wonderful cross court forehand.  Two double faults and a wayward forehand brought up break point.  A lucky net cord and a fifth service break for 3-2 Radwanska.

Sabalenka sending winners all over Eastbourne and giving Radwanska little chance on her serve, yet again breaking for 3-3.

However on her own delivery when missing her first attempt she had lost all eleven points, until saving the first of two break points in the seventh game.  Sabalenka held serve on the back of winners incredibly numbering now in the twenties.  She led 4-3

Radwanska dropped her fourth serve from four attempts and Sabalenka served out the set, clinching it with an ace on the final point - the first from either player for the match.  6-3 to the impressive Belarusian.

Continued trend in set two as Sabalenka broke and won her fifth straight game 1-0.  Perhaps a loss of focus and suddenly three break points for Radwanska - the second was enough as Sabalenka netted a relatively simple shot 1-1.

Finally a service hold for Radwanska and she led 2-1, a dug out drop shot the special from the game.

The renowned variety possessed by Radwanska was now beginning to bloom in the match, previously handcuffed through irresistible tennis from Sabalenka.

Radwanska broke again and led 3-1.  There was at last a contest on court.

4-1 on the back of unforced Sabalenka unforced errors.

Radwanska won the set 6-1 and the match was level.

Aga led 3-2 and 40-0 in the decider, but Aryna surged from the brink and broke for 3-3.

Sabalenka similarly led 40-0 on serve, but two double faults helped her struggle to deuce.

However she held serve, the final point won with a stunning backhand/forehand combination. 4-3.

Sabalenka broke serve again, a backhand return winner (her 50th winner), a backhand screamer, a backhand forcing an error, and possibly the backhand of the match, passing an amazed Radwanska.

Serving for the match, Sabalenka briefly lost her nerve and a netted backhand plus one sent wide had her down 0-30.

A passing Belarusian backhand plus a Polish error put her on track again but an overhead into the net gave Aga a break point.

That was saved, then a stunning forehand down the line brought up match point and that was all required as the next point was also hers.

6-3 1-6 6-3 to Aryna Sabalenka.

This is not the first impact that she has made on me.

I saw her live at the Australian Open this year when she took the first set off Ash Barty with her power game.  She eventually lost, but her impact was not, and she is now in the Eastbourne final as proof.

Kerber d Kasatkina at Eastbourne

Quarter final day in Antalya and also in Eastbourne where a great match was witnessed between Angie Kerber (4) and Daria Kasatkina (7).

For over two hours the crowd thrilled to the shot making between the two.  Kasatkina, nine years the junior, had won three of their last four encounters, and this was the first time they would meet on grass.

Kerber smashed the Russian in set one, winning 12 of 13 points on her serve, hitting seven winners and treating the serve of Kasatkina with contempt, winning 16 of the 23 points played off it.

Facing no break points on her own serve, Angie created five on Daria’s, converting three times to win the set 6-1.

Set two was thankfully a contest.  Kerber won only 54% of points on serve, allowing Kasatkina back into the match.

The German returned the second serves of Kasatkina well and the pair exchanged two breaks each to produce a tie break.

Kasatkina, down 2-3, fired up to win the next five points in succession and take the set 7-6(3).

Kasatkina looked on target for the final four as she led 4-2 in the decider with a break.  However, Kerber broke back twice to lead 5-4 and serve for the match.

She failed, and in fact from 4-4 there were four successive service failures.

Kerber dropped hers while serving again for the match at 6-5.

In the resulting tie break, Kasatkina took the early advantage 3-1 but there it ended for the 21 year old.

The next 6 points were German and the high quality battle was won by Angie Kerber 6-1 6-7(3) 7-6(3).  41 winners were struck by Angie during her win.

Kerber will move back into the top ten, specifically number ten spot, edging Madison Keys down to eleventh place.

She will more importantly play Caroline Wozniacki in the Eastbourne semi finals 

Caroline Wozniacki (1) defeated Ash Barty (8) 6-4 6-3, winning the last four games of the second set.

Aga Radwanska defeated Jelena Ostapenko (5) 6-2 7-5

She will play Aryna Sabalenka in the semi finals 

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Karolina Pliskova (2) 6-3 2-6 7-6(5)

Men’s quarter finals:

Lukas Lacko defeated wildcard Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4

He will play Marco Cecchinato in the semi finals 

Marco Cecchinato (4) defeated John Millman 5-7 6-3 6-2

Mischa Zverev defeated Denis Shapovalov (3) 6-3 6-3

He will play Mikhail Kukushkin in the semi finals 

Mikhail Kukushkin defeated Kyle Edmund (2) 5-7 6-3 6-1

Antalya quarter finals:

Adrian Mannarino (1) defeated João Sousa (6) 7-6(3) 6-4

He will play Gaël Monfils in the semi finals 

Wildcard Gaël Monfils defeated Guillermo García-López 7-6(3) 6-4

Jiry Vesely defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6(5) 6-2

He will play Damir Dzumhur in the semi finals 

Damir Dzumhur (2) defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 6-1

Wimbledon qualifying has concluded, and for Aussie fans, three men have won through to the main draw:

Jason Kubler, ranked 147

John-Patrick Smith, ranked 211

Alex Bolt, ranked 205 - he beat another Australian (Thanasi Kokkinakis) in the final qualifying round

Bernard Tomic was beaten at the last hurdle and won’t play Wimbledon this year.

Schwartzman loses on grass again

In a second round men’s match at Eastbourne, Argentine top seed Diego Schwartzman was sent packing by Slovakian Lukas Lacko.

The pair had never met before on the ATP Tour, and with his second ever win over a top twenty player (the other was in 2011 over Sam Querrey then ranked 17j, Lacko ensured Schwartzman would remain winless on grass at his seventh attempt.

In the opening set, although Diego was winning a greater percentage of points on his first serve than Lukas, it was the lower credentialed player who created all the break chances - six in all.

Schwartzman saved each of them, and with the single opportunity granted him, he converted to give him the lead 6-4.

Set two was relatively even but Lacko went after the Argentine second serve with greater success and broke twice from each chance given.

Schwartzman achieved one service break from his three possibilities, but insufficient to deny Lacko the second set 6-4.

In the decider, Schwartzman broke early, and came within a point of leading 3-0.  However it was Lacko who controlled the remainder of the match, again winning multiple points off the Schwartzman second serve (59% for the set) and breaking serve twice for a 4-6 6-4 7-5 victory.

Lacko will play Cameron Norrie in the quarter finals 

Wildcard Cameron Norrie defeated lucky loser in qualifying Jay Clarke 6-4 6-3

Other men’s results 

Marco Cecchinato (4) defeated Denis Istomin 6-4 4-6 7-5

He will play John Millman in the quarter finals 

John Millman defeated Leonardo Mayer (5) 7-6(7) 7-6(4)

Mischa Zverev defeated Steve Johnson (7) 6-3 6-3

He will play Denis Shapovalov in the quarter finals 

Denis Shapovalov (3) defeated Jared Donaldson 6-4 4-6 6-2

Mikhail Kukushkin defeated David Ferrer (6) 6-2 6-0

He will play Kyle Edmund in the quarter finals

Kyle Edmund (2) defeated wildcard Andy Murray 6-4 6-4

Eastbourne Women’s third round results:

Caroline Wozniacki (1) defeated Johanna Konta (13) 4-6 6-1 6-4

She will play Ash Barty in the quarter finals 

Ash Barty (8) defeated Su-Wei Hsieh 6-0 6-4

Angie Kerber (4) defeated Danielle Collins 6-1 6-1

She will play Daria Kasatkina in the quarter finals 

Daria Kasatkina (7) defeated Anastasija Sevastova (11) 6-4 6-4

Jelena Ostapenko (5) defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1 6-2

She will play Aga Radwanska in the quarter finals 

Aga Radwanska received a walkover from Petra Kvitová (3) who suffered a hamstring injury in an earlier match which had slightly worsened.  The twice Wimbledon champion was not willing to risk further problems with the Grand Slam event just around the corner.

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elise Mertens (9) 7-5 2-6 7-6(4)

She will play Karolina Pliskova in the quarter finals 

Karolina Pliskova (2) defeated Barbora Strycova (14) 6-3 6-4

Antalya:

Remaining second round matches 

Adrian Mannarino (1) defeated Ricardas Berankis 6-4 7-5

He will play João Sousa in the quarter finals

João Sousa (6) defeated Mirza Basic 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4

Wildcard Gaël Monfils (4) defeated qualifier Blaz Kavcic 6-3 5-7 7-5

He will play Guillermo García-López in the quarter finals 

Guillermo García-López defeated Robin Haase (5) 6-2 6-7(5) 7-6(2)

Pierre-Hugues Herbert defeated Yuichi Sugita (7) 2-6 6-4 7-6(5)

He will play Damir Dzumhur in the quarter finals 

Damir Dzumhur (2) defeated Marius Copil 4-6 6-4 6-4

In Wimbledon Men’s qualifying, the third round has been reached, and Italy has seven left, Australia has five, of the 32 to play for the 16 spots available in the main draw.

In Wimbledon Women’s qualifying, Russia has six left, USA has four, of the 32 to play for the 16 spots available in the main draw.

Wimbledon qualifying underway

More from Eastbourne and Antalya as qualifying for Wimbledon entered its second day.

Eastbourne:

Women’s second round 

Seeds to fall included 

Magdalena Rybarikova (10) who retired after dropping the first set to Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1

Carla Suárez Navarro (16), victim of Danielle Collins 6-2 6-4

Julia Goerges (6) losing to Aryna Sabalenka 1-6 6-4 6-4

Kiki Bertens (12) lost to Mihaela Buzarnescu 3-6 7-6(5) 6-3

Dasha Gavrilova (15) gave up a set advantage to lose to 2012 Wimbledon finalist Aga Radwanska 5-7 7-6(4) 6-0

Successful seeds were

Jelena Ostapenko (5) who defeated Kaia Kanepi 6-3 7-5

Elise Mertens (9) who defeated Sveta Kuznetsova 6-1 6-1

Barbora Strycova (14) who defeated Donna Vekic 6-1 6-4

Johanna Konta (13) defeated Aleksandra Krunic 6-1 6-3

Ash Barty (8) defeated Kiki Mladenovic 6-3 6-2

Angie Kerber (4) defeated Dominika Cibulková 6-3 6-3

Anastasija Sevastova (11) defeated wildcard Harriet Dart 6-3 6-4

Daria Kasatkina (7) defeated Alison Van Uytvanck 5-7 6-4 6-1

Petra Kvitová (3) defeated qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5 6-3

Men’s

The remaining six first round matches were played, with all favoured players successful, including seeds Leonardo Mayer (5), eliminating Gilles Simon 6-4 7-6(4), and Steve Johnson (7), overcoming Daniil Medvedev 6-2 6-4

Antalya:

The remaining first round matches were completed, but more interest was in the two second round battles where seeded players lost after having an opening bye - 

Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated Dusan Lajovic (8) 6-4 2-6 7-5

Jiri Vesely defeated wildcard Fernando Verdasco (3) 6-3 7-5

Remarkably in the Wimbledon qualifying, three former finalists were on court - 

Sabine Lisicki, runner up to Marion Bartoli in 2013, lost her first round qualifying match this year to Russian opponent Anna Kalinskaya 6-4 7-6(3)

Vera Zvonareva, runner up to Serena Williams in 2010, won her first round qualifying match this year over Japanese opponent Eri Hozumi 6-2 6-3

Eugenie Bouchard, runner up to Petra Kvitová in 2014, won her first round qualifying match this year over Chinese opponent Lin Zhu 6-0 6-2

Eastbourne and Antalya last pre Wimbledon

England and Turkey are central to the final grass court tournaments before Wimbledon.

England:

Eastbourne hosts the Nature Valley International, the women’s event being a WTA Premier category, and the men’s an ATP 250 category.

Turkey:

Antalya hosts the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya, an ATP 250 category event.

Eastbourne:

Women’s

The 48 strong draw is headed by world number two Caroline Wozniacki, and 

includes two other top ten players.  Additionally there are eight from the top twenty and all 16 seeded players are in the top thirty.

The seeds had first round byes.

Days One and Two saw all first round matches completed, with homegrown wildcard Harriet Dart, aged 21 and ranked 181, providing the biggest upset defeating Kristyna Pliskova 7-5 3-6 6-3.

Two second round matches have been played, with the top two seeds, Caroline Wozniacki (1) and Karolina Pliskova (2) winning their opening hit outs against Camila Giorgi and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova respectively.

Men’s

The field of 28 is headed by world number 11 Diego Schwartzman.  He is joined by six other seeds (Marton Fucsovics is a late withdrawal) all in the top fifty.

Adding interest to the draw were wildcards Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka. 

The top four seeds have first round byes.

In the first round, Derby teenager Jay Clarke, ranked 236, upset Ryan Harrison, to the delight of English fans, 6-4 6-1.

Further joy for Great Britain when Scot Andy Murray won the battle of Grand Slam champions over Stan Wawrinka 6-1 6-3

Antalya:

The draw of 28 is headed by Adrian Mannarino, world ranked 24.

The 8 seeded players are all from the top 60.

The four top seeds are given first round byes.

No major surprises so far in the first round matches played, but in a battle of veterans, 31 year old qualifier Blaz Kavcic, ranked 176, defeated 33 year old Marcos Baghdatis, ranked 84, 7-6(4) 6-3.

Tatjana Maria wins maiden title in Mallorca

Titles have been won in four grass court tournaments.

Halle:

Roger Federer, after three successive tough matches, finally relented and failed to claim his tenth trophy here.

Borna Coric, 21, who has not quite lived up to his immense talent, until this year, with a semi final in Indian Wells ((losing to Federer) and a quarter final in Miami (losing to Sascha Zverev) boosted his confidence for the rest of 2018.

Coric rose to the occasion in Halle, defeating Zverev in the first round and storming through to his third ATP final.

He saved a break point in the eleventh game of set one, and two more in the tie break.  He won the last four points in the breaker to take the lead 7-6(6).

Coric errors donated a service break to Federer in the eighth game of set two and the top seed tied the match at 6-7(6) 6-3.

Unperturbed, Coric broke Federer twice in the decider to claim his second ATP title and first on grass 7-6(6) 3-6 6-l

Federer loses his number one world ranking, but of more importance, Coric moves up 13 spots to a new career high of 21, previously 28.

London:

Marin Cilic (1) came from a set down against Novak Djokovic to win the title at Queen’s Club 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3.

Down 5-7 and 4-5 and 30-40, Cilic rallied, saving the match point and proceeding with some big serves to hold and ensure a tie break was required.

Djokovic led 4-1 in the breaker, but was overpowered, losing the next six points and the set.

Cilic rode the momentum to finally achieve a break of the Serb serve, after not converting seven, and then serving out the match 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3.

This was the second title here for Cilic, and, with Coric, made for a great week for Croatia.

Birmingham:

Petra Kvitová successfully defended her title, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková 4-6 6-1 6-2

This was Petra’s fifth title for 2018, and moves her past Caroline Wozniacki into second place in the 2018 WTA Race.

Mallorca:

Tatjana Maria defeated Anastasija Sevastova (3) 6-4 7-5

Tatjana has been on tour since 2006 and has never been past a main draw semi final.

This year she had made the second round only twice.  In Mallorca she won five straight matches to win the crown, and in defeating Sevastova, she overcame her second top twenty player ever.

Finalists set for European titles

Semi final day in Halle, London, Birmingham and Mallorca, with all the favoured players winning their way through to the finals.  Maybe with exception of Bautista Agut who had to retire early in the first set through injury.

Mallorca:

Tatjana Maria used her experience to overcome American teenage qualifier Sofia Kenin 6-2 2-6 6-4

It has been a poor year for Tatjana until this tournament, having lost all her opening round matches except for Charleston and Bogotá.

She will play Anastasija Sevastova in the final

Anastasija Sevastova (3) defeated Samantha Stosur 7-6(1) 6-1.

Birmingham:

Magdaléna Rybáriková defeated Barbora Strycova 7-6(1) 6-4

She will play Petra Kvitová in the final

Defending champion Petra Kvitová (4) defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3 6-2

Halle:

Roger Federer (1) defeated qualifier Denis Kudla in another struggle 7-6(1) 7-5

He will play Borna Coric in the final

Borna Coric defeated Roberto Bautista Agut (4) 2-3 (retired)

London:

Marin Cilic (1) defeated Nick Kyrgios 7-6(3) 7-6(4) in a match with no breaks of serve.  Kyrgios could not amass the quantity of aces which he did in the previous two matches, as Cilic was able to read the delivery better than other opponents.  Still 27 aces were produced between the two.

Tie breaks were played to good effect by the top seed and Cilic made the final

He will play Novak Djokovic for the title

Wildcard Novak Djokovic defeated Jeremy Chardy 7-6(5) 6-4

Tournaments in Eastbourne, England and Antalya, Turkey are undergoing qualifying rounds in preparation for next weeks main draw matches.  Eastbourne will host a WTA Premier and an ATP 250 event, while Antalya hosts another ATP 250 event.

Garcia falls to qualifier Kenin

Quarter finals produced some upsets and close calls in the four grass court tournaments overnight.

Halle:

Roger Federer (1) served impeccably in set one, winning 94% of points on his first serve and 80% of points on his second effort.

Yet he couldn’t dismiss unseeded Matthew Ebden easily.  The Aussie held his serve throughout, saving the single break point available to Federer.

The top seed kicked clear in the tie break and led 7-6(2).

Ebden saved three break points in set two and then broke the Swiss serve for 2-1.  Federer immediately broke back for 2-2, but Ebden struck again in the seventh game and found himself serving for the set at 5-3.

The top seed did as he should and won the final four games to take the match 7-6(2) 7-5.

Although tested to his limits in the past two matches, Roger is appearing ready to win his 10th Halle crown

He will play American Denis Kudla in the semis 

Qualifier Denis Kudla defeated Yuichi Sugita 6-2 7-5

Roberto Bautista Agut (4) defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3

He will play Borna Coric in the semis

Borna Coric defeated Andreas Seppi 7-5 6-3 

London:

Marin Cilic (1) defeated Sam Querrey (5) 7-6(3) 6-2

He will play Nick Kyrgios in the semis 

Nick Kyrgios defeated Feliciano López 7-6(5) 7-6(3) in a serving feast, with no service breaks and 32 aces for Kyrgios and 16 aces for López.

Jeremy Chardy defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-4 6-4

He will play Novak Djokovic in the semis 

Wildcard Novak Djokovic defeated Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-1

Birmingham:

Barbora Strycova defeated Lesia Tsurenko 7-5 3-0 (retired)

She will play Magdaléna Rybáriková in the semis

Magdaléna Rybáriková defeated qualifier Dalila Jakupovic 6-2 6-4

Petra Kvitová (4) defeated Julia Goerges (5) 6-1 6-4

She will play Mihaela Buzarnescu in the semis

Mihaela Buzarnescu defeated Elina Svitolina (2) 6-3 6-2

Mallorca:

Qualifier Sofia Kenin defeated Caroline Garcia (1) 6-3 6-3

She will play Tatjana Maria in the semis

Tatjana Maria defeated Lucie Safarova (7) 

Anastasija Sevastova (3) defeated qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6 6-3 6-1, after trailing by a set and two breaks

She will play Samantha Stosur in the semis

Samantha Stosur defeated qualifier Alison Riske 6-4 6-2

Federer escapes from Paire - barely

The completion of second round matches in Halle included a tough ride for top seed Roger Federer against unseeded Benoit Paire.

Paire began well, with a good percentage of first serves finding their mark.  However at 3-4, the Frenchman committed successive errors and gave Federer the break.

The Swiss ace served out the set without trouble and led 6-3.

6 aces were handy for Roger.

Two break points created by Federer in the opening game of set two gave no indication of what was to come.

The Paire backhand was pivotal in making Federer uncomfortable in his movement around the court, and not only was Paire’s serve held, but he broke the top seed twice to lead 4-0.

It was close to being 5-0, but Federer managed to break the French serve with a backhand cross court winner and limit the damage to 1-4.

Paire, who in six previous meetings with Federer, had never won a set, held his next two service games, sealing the set 6-3 with an ace.

No breaks of serve in the deciding set, but Paire saved two match points at 5-5 15-40.

In the tie break, Federer initially led with a mini break 3-1.  Paire then took the advantage with the next four points.

At 5-6, Federer saved a match point with a top spin forehand landing on the baseline, but he lost a point on serve to give a second match point to Paire, this time 7-6 and the 48th ranked player to serve.

A forcing backhand return produced an unforced  forehand error from the French racquet and Federer won the remaining points to escape 6-3 3-6 7-6(7).

A quarter final awaits for the nine time winner of this tournament.

Federer will play Australian Matthew Ebden, who defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber (6) 4-6 6-1 6-2

Ebden has, with his performance here, moved up the rankings from 60 to a new career high at this point of 50.  The worst he can finish after the tournament is 52.

Remaining Halle second round matches:

Andreas Seppi defeated wildcard Florian Mayer 6-2 6-4, disappointing German fans wanting their man to win

Seppi will play Borna Coric in the quarter finals 

Borna Coric defeated lucky loser in qualifying Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4 6-2

London:

Remaining second round matches:

Nick Kyrgios defeated Kyle Edmund (7) 7-6(3) 6-7(5) 6-3, including 32 aces 

He will play Feliciano López in the quarter finals 

Feliciano López was given a walkover by Milos Raonic 

Adrian Mannarino defeated qualifier Julien Benneteau 7-6(4) 6-3 in an all French clash.

He will play Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals 

Wildcard Novak Djokovic defeated Grigor Dimitrov (2) 6-4 6-1 in just over an hour

Birmingham:

Remaining second round matches:

Barbora Strycova upset top seed Garbiñe Muguruza 6-2 6-4, the reigning Wimbledon champion losing the last four games of set two.

Strycova will play Lesia Tsurenko in the quarter finals 

Lesia Tsurenko defeated Daria Kasatkina (6) 1-6 6-3 6-3

Julia Goerges (5) defeated Ash Barty 7-6(6) 6-3 - Barty wasted chances in set one, having had set points with Goerges serving at 5-6, then leading 6-3 in the tie break.  Goerges won the final four points in the tie break and controlled the rest of the match.

The German will play defending champion Petra Kvitova in the quarter finals 

Petra Kvitová (4) defeated the other remaining Aussie Dasha Gavrilova 6-2 6-2

Mallorca:

Remaining second round matches:

Lucie Safarova (7) defeated Vika Azarenka 6-3 6-4

She will play Tatjana Maria in the quarter finals 

Qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic defeated fellow qualifier Rebecca Peterson 6-3 6-3

She will play Anastasija Sevastova in the quarter finals 

Anastasija Sevastova (3) defeated qualifier Antonia Lottner 1-6 6-3 6-1

Qualifier Alison Riske defeated Polona Hercog 3-6 7-5 3-6

She will play Samantha Stosur in the quarter finals