Photo by @cincyrefined via Instagram.
Gael Monfils falls to Jerzy Janowicz for the second time this year
Jerzy Janowicz has repeated his Australian Open upset of Gael Monfils, defeating the Frenchman 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday.
The 6’8″ Pole’s seven aces were half that of the No. 14 seed’s but he never dropped serve throughout and claimed an impressive 92 per cent of first-serve points in the one-hour, 16-minute affair. The pair was locked at 1-1 in their FedEx Head2Head coming into the match, with 24-year-old Janowicz claiming their second-round meeting in Melbourne back in January in five sets. Janowicz secured a second-round clash with either Jared Donaldson or Nicolas Mahut. Donaldson was leading 4-1 in the decider against the Frenchman when rain suspended play.
In the battle of the North American qualifiers, Canadian Vasek Pospisil defeated American Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4, thumping 11 aces to advance in one hour and 12 minutes. The 25 year old will meet No. 16 seed Grigor Dimitrov next. Lucky loser Benoit Paire made the most of his late inclusion into the main draw to upset Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller before the rain arrived. The Frenchman edged two tie-break sets 7-6(5), 7-6(6) to land a second-round meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
No. 13 seed David Goffin overcame a slow start to see off qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 37 minutes. The Belgian will face the winner of former Top-10 players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco in the second round. After the rain delay, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut also progressed, downing Uruguary’s Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4. The one-hour, 16-minute result set up a meeting with No. 2 seed and six-time champion Roger Federer.
In an all-American showdown, Jack Sock raced past wild card Bjorn Frantangelo 6-1, 6-2. Despite hitting eight double faults, the World No. 30 safely progressed to a second-round match with either No. 15 seed Kevin Anderson or Leonardo Mayer.
Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/cincinnati-2015-monday-monfils-pospisil-muller
Topics: Atp World Tour, Benoit Paire, Cincinnati, Cincy Tennis, David Goffin, Denis Kudla, Fernando Verdasco, Gael Monfils, Gilles Muller, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Jerzy Janowicz, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Novak Djokovic, Roberto Bautista Agut, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News, Vasek Pospisil, Western & Southern Open
-@CincyTennis NEWS – @Gael_Monfils FALLS TO JERZY JANOWICZ- http://t.co/PyzUstehH9 @Jerzy_Janowicz #cincytennis #Monfils #Cincinnati #ATP