RICKY DIMON LOOKS @ MEN’S TENNIS TOUR NEWS FROM VIENNA, MOSCOW, AND STOCKHOLM: TOMIC OFF TO HOT START WITH MALISSE IN BOX WEARING THE COACHES HAT

Written by: Staff on 16th October 2014

RICKY DIMON LOOKS @ MEN'S TENNIS TOUR NEWS FROM VIENNA, MOSCOW, AND STOCKHOLM: TOMIC OFF TO HOT START WITH MALISSE IN BOX WEARING THE COACHES HAT

epa04323519 Australian Bernard Tomic celebrates a point against Dominican Victor Estrelladuring their match at the Claro Open Colombia held in Bogota, Colombia, 19 July 2014. EPA/Mauricio Duenas Castaneda |

With new coach Xavier Malisse guiding him at least through the end of this season, Bernard Tomic booked a spot in the If Stockholm Open quarterfinals by upsetting No. 3 seed Kevin Anderson on Wednesday. Tomic is joined in the last eight by Grigor Dimitrov and Fernando Verdasco, respective straight-set winners over Teymuraz Gabashvili and Jarkko Nieminen.

Vienna summary

Ivo Karlovic, who played three tiebreakers against Federico Delbonis at the Erste Bank Open on Tuesday without a single break point to be had in the entire match, added one more to his long list of ‘breakers. The 6’11” Croat earned a place in the quarterfinals by fighting past Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 7-6(1). Karlovic actually had to save break points this time (three to be exact), but he still held all 11 of his service games while blasting 21 aces.

Philipp Kohlschreiber also faced a tough test but survived, overcoming Carlos Berlocq 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. In first-round action, meanwhile, Tobias Kamke set up a date with No. 1 seed David Ferrer by defeating Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Lukas Rosol opened with a 6-2, 6-4 rout of Lukas Lacko and Sergiy Stakhovsky held off qualifier Miloslav Mecir 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Moscow summary

U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic has struggled since his triumph in New York and his opening match at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday was no different. The second-seeded Croat needed one hour and 52 minutes to get past Russian wild card Evgeny Donskoy 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The world No. 8 cannot rise above his current sixth spot in the race to London, but he can put distance between himself and other contenders like Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, and Milos Raonic.

Cilic possibly awaits Tommy Robredo in Friday’s quarterfinals. The third-seeded Spaniard kicked off his week with a 7-6(6), 6-4 defeat of qualifier Pedja Krstin. Despite Donskoy’s disappointment, all was not lost for the Russian fans on Wednesday. Mikhail Youzhny, the 2009 Moscow champion, beat qualifier Victor Baluda 6-3, 6-4. Meanwhile, Cilic is joined in the last eight by Roberto Bautista Agut and Andreas Seppi. Bautista Agut edged Sam Groth 7-6(5), 7-6(4) and Seppi downed Ivan Dodig 7-5, 7-6(3).

Stockholm summary

The Tomic-Malisse partnership got off to a somewhat inauspicious start–albeit in a win–on Monday when the Australian earned a harder-than-expected 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-4 victory over Swedish wild card Patrick Rosenholm. Tomic turned in a much more convincing effort against Anderson as he ousted the world No. 17 7-6(4), 6-4. Ranked 76th but defending only 35 points the rest of the season, Tomic held all 11 of his service games and did not double-fault a single time while prevailing in one hour and 24 minutes.

Xavier Malisse from Belgium reacts during his first round match against David Ferrer of Spain at the Topshelf Open tennis tournament in Rosmalen, Netherlands, 18 June 2013. EPA/GUUS SCHOONEWILLE

Next up for Tomic is Verdasco, who took care of Nieminen 6-3, 6-4. Dimitrov became the third player through to the last eight by dismissing Gabashvili 7-5, 7-6(4) despite giving back a service break in each of the two sets. First-round winners included Jack Sock and Dustin Brown. Sock beat Andrey Golubev 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 and Brown earned a shot at the top-seeded Berdych by getting the best of Christian Lindell 6-4, 7-6(3).

Briefs

* Karlovic holds off Melzer, has chance at top 30 with one more victory.

* Kamke denies Bolelli top 70 spot, needs upset of Ferrer for top 90.

* Rosol currently projected to reach top 30, but needs semifinal to be safe.

* Stakhovsky virtually guarantees top 60 place with win over Mecir.

* Seppi beats Dodig, but must advance to semis in order to stay top 50.

* Robredo opens with victory but must win twice more for top 20 chance.

* Tomic soars into top 70, will be well into top 60 if he reaches semifinals.

* Sock projected to reach top 50 for first time, needs one more win for guarantee.

* Brown advances to face Berdych, almost certainly into top 90.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp, Bernard Tomic, Moscow, Ricky Dimon, Stockholm, Tennis, Vienna, Xavier Malisse

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October 16, 2014 at 9:00 am

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RD_Tennistalk says:

October 16, 2014 at 9:02 am

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