MEN’S TENNIS NEWS FROM SYDNEY – GRIGOR DIMITROV WINS AS DOES BERNIE TOMIC

Written by: Staff on 13th January 2016

Tennis Apia International tournament in Sydney

Bernard Tomic of Australia returns a shot to Jordan Thompson of Australia during their second round match at the Sydney International Tennis Tournament, in Sydney, Australia, 13 January 2016. EPA/DAN HIMBRECHTS

epa05099643 Bernard Tomic of Australia returns a shot to Jordan Thompson of Australia during their second round match at the Sydney International Tennis Tournament, in Sydney, Australia, 13 January 2016. EPA/DAN HIMBRECHTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

#dimitrov #victory #apiainternational #sydney – Photo by @tennis_phil via Instagram.

Top seed Bernard Tomic, bidding to reach his third final in four years at the Apia International Sydney, lost just eight of his service points in a 6-2, 6-2 victory over fellow Australian Jordan Thompson, a wild card, on Wednesday night. Tomic, who captured the 2013 title (d. Anderson) and finished runner-up to Juan Martin del Potro two years ago, goes onto face Teymuraz Gabashvili.

“I was very, very solid tonight,” said Tomic. “I felt very good from the first few games [and] was on top of the ball. So I think I’m very confident from last week as well. With the memories [of my first ATP World Tour title here] comes the confidence. And playing on the court. I feel so good playing on that court. Every time I step on that court I know this is where it all started for me.”

Third seed and defending champion Viktor Troicki fired eight aces past Tommy Robredo in a 6-1, 6-4 victory over 61 minutes. He now challenges Nicolas Mahut in the top half of the draw.

Grigor Dimitrov continued his strong start to the 2016 season by out-hitting Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 7-6(2), 6-4 to advance to his second quarter-final in as many weeks. Dimitrov, 24, had won their first meeting on hard courts at the ATP Masters 1000 Paris in 2014, while Cuevas prevailed last year on clay in the Istanbul semi-finals.

The opening match in Ken Rosewall Arena saw the No. 4-seeded Bulgarian take the 51-minute first set in a one-sided tie-break, denying the 41st-ranked Cuevas the lone break point of the stanza. Dimitrov opened the second set with his only break of the match (1 for 9). It turned out to be the only one he would need in the one-hour, 37-minute victory.

Dimitrov reached the quarter-finals in Brisbane last week, losing to Roger Federer in three sets. The 30-year-old Cuevas, who was making his third appearance in Sydney, failed to convert any of his three break-point opportunities.

Gilles Muller was leading No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem 7-6(2), 2-2 when the 22-year-old Austrian, who was coming off a semi-final showing in Brisbane (l. to Federer), retired with blisters on his right foot. Muller, a semi-finalist in 2015, has now dropped just seven points on his first serve over two matches, taking out a pair of hot young guns in Thiem and Borna Coric. Muller, who also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open last year, could push past his career-high of No. 34 in the Emirates ATP Rankings if he goes on to win the Sydney title.

French qualifier Mahut was a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 winner over No. 5 seed Andreas Seppi of Italy. Joining Mahut in the winners’ circle were Gabashvili (d. Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-3), No. 8 seed Alexandr Dologopolov (d. Alexander Sarkissian 7-6(6), 6-2) and No. 6 seed Jeremy Chardy (d. James Duckworth 7-6(5), 6-4).

Doubles: Polish Pair Reaches Semis

Polish duo Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski, a new pairing for 2016, reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over third seeds Marcelo Melo and Daniel Nestor. With his first-round win, Nestor had notched his 1000th doubles victory.

Also through to the final four are Thomaz Bellucci and Leonardo Mayer, who edged Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming 7-6(0), 4-6, 10-6. Erlich and Fleming had upset Bob and Mike Bryan in the first round.

Playing together for the first time, Australians Sam Groth and John Peers reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Simone Bolelli and Pablo Cuevas.

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/dimitrov-sydney-2016-wednesday )

Topics: Alexandr Dolgopolov, Andreas Seppi, Apia International, Atp World Tour, Bernie Tomic. Viktor Troicki, Borna Coric, Bryan Brothers, Daniel Nestor, Dominic Thiem, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Jordan Thompson, Lukasz Kubot, Marcelo Melo, Marcin Matkowski, Men's tennis, Nicolas Mahut, Pablo Cuevas, Roger Federer, Sports, Sydney Tennis, Tennis, Tennis News, Tommy Robredo