RICKY DIMON REPORTS & RECAPS MEN’S PRO TENNIS NEWS FROM NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND & WIMBLEDON QUALIES FROM ROEHAMPTON

Written by: Staff on 23rd June 2015

RICKY DIMON REPORTS & RECAPS MEN'S PRO TENNIS NEWS FROM NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND & WIMBLEDON QUALIES FROM ROEHAMPTON |

Photo by Lovey.

Tuesday recap: Drama in Nottingham, Americans struggle in Wimbledon qualies

By Ricky Dimon

Marcel Granollers led Gilles Simon 6-4, 5-3 and had triple match point on his own serve but could not seal the deal during second-round action at the AEGON Open on Tuesday. Instead it was Simon who stormed back for a 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(0) victory.

Granollers had all the momentum after taking four straight games from 3-1 down in the second set. The Spaniard promptly won three consecutive points while trying to close out the match on serve at 5-3 only to see Simon run off a string of five points in succession to stay alive. In the eventual tiebreaker, the Frenchman raced to a 4-0 advantage and never relinquished control.

Simon also battled back from a break down in the third to force a tiebreaker that proved to be even more straightforward than the previous one. He took all seven points to finally prevail after three hours and nine minutes.

Marcos Baghdatis joined Simon in the last 16 by sending No. 1 seed David Ferrer packing with a 6-2, 7-6(4) upset. Baghdatis, who got a second-set retirement from Victor Estrella Burgos in his opener on Sunday, held all 10 of his service games while saving two break points in the process.

“For me, the first set was difficult because it was [my] first set back on grass (this year),” Ferrer explained. “He played more hours on court and had more confidence in his game.”

Photo by Lovey.

Confidence is what Great Britain’s own James Ward was looking for in advance of Wimbledon, but he will get not more than one match’s worth of practice in Nottingham. That is because Ward lost the continuation of his rain-delayed match against Tim Smyczek on Tuesday, as the American got the job done 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-1.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” Ward said. “I’ll go back and watch the match, see what went wrong, move on from there, brush up and get ready for Wimbledon next week. The more you play on grass, the better it is.”

Meanwhile, Wimbledon qualifying continued and saw Americans Ryan Harrison and Austin Krajicek bow out of the tournament. Harrison resumed his rain-delayed match and lost the third set to Guido Andreozzi. American Bjorn Fratangelo successfully battled into the second round.

Photo by Lovey.

Briefs

* Baghdatis beats Ferrer, can climb to No. 57 with one more win.

* Zverev continues climb to 71st in rankings but needs semifinal for top 70.

* Mayer off to strong start in Nottingham, can reach top 20 with semifinal.

* Istomin rolls over Monaco, has a chance at top 90 with one more victory.

* Stakhovsly trounces Troicki, needs quarterfinal to advance from 49th.

* Thiem takes out Jaziri, can reach career-high of 28th with one more win.

* Dolgopolov outlasts Andujar, needs semifinal for top 70.

* Lu eases past Seppi, must win twice more for top 60.

* Simon saves match points, can climb as high as No. 11 with Nottingham title.

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

Topics: Nottingham, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News, Wimbledon

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10sBalls_com says:

June 23, 2015 at 6:35 pm

-@Dimonator REPORTS & RECAPS MEN’S PRO #TENNIS NEWS FROM #NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND & #WIMBLEDON QUALIES FROM #ROEHAMPTON- http://t.co/fjyQVgbyIR
Dimonator says:

June 23, 2015 at 6:55 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator REPORTS & RECAPS MEN’S PRO #TENNIS NEWS FROM #NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND & #WIMBLEDON QUALIES FROM #ROEHAMPTON- http:…
NottinghamLover says:

June 23, 2015 at 7:34 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator REPORTS & RECAPS MEN’S PRO #TENNIS NEWS FROM #NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND & #WIMBLEDON QUALIES FROM #ROEHAMPTON- http:…