Ernests Gulbis overcame a second-set loss to edge past John Isner with 6-4 4-6 6-4 in two hours and three minutes to qualify for his third quarter final of the year at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. The Latvian player, who lost his previous five matches before this tournament, fired 23 aces to Isner’s 16 and fended off six of seven break points
Gulbis broke serve in the seventh game as Isner made a series of errors. Including a costly double fault. Gulbis held his service games en route to winning the first with 6-4. The second set went on serve until the 10th game when Isner broke serve to win the second set. Gulbis broke serve early in the decider and held his service games en route to winning the match with 6-4 in the third set.
Jo Wilfred Tsonga, runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai Master 1000 final and arrived to Vienna only on Tuesday, fought back from dropping the second set to overcome Tommy Haas with 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4. Tsonga hit 15 aces and won 37 percent of his first serve points. The player from Le Mans will face either Lukas Rosol or Jpanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita. Tsonga, who has moved up to World Number 9 in the ATP Ranking, is fighting against David Ferrer for the eighth berth for the ATP Finals in London
The two players traded breaks and spectacular rallies in the first set. Haas won the tie-break with 7-3 forcing the match to the third set. Tsonga got one break in the seventh game to win the third set with 6.4
Haas, who won in Vienna in 2001 and 2013, is coming back after a shoulder injury, fired 41 winners, 14 aces and made 32 unforced errors.
“The shoulder needs to get better. There are a lot of thoughts going through my brain but it is heading in the right direction. I need to get more fit in the off-season and put some muscle on the shoulder”, said Haas.
Number 2 Kevin Anderson, who moved up to the top 10 in the ATP Ranking after reaching the quarter finals in Shanghai, hit 19 aces to defeat Andreas Haider Maurer 6-4 7-5 in a match. Anderson won the first set with 6-4 before the second set went on serve until the 11th game before closing out with 7.5.
Mr Ace Ivo Karlovic fired 10 aces to beat Sergiy Stakhovskiy 6-4 7-5. The match featured just three break points (one in the first set and one in the second set) and very few games went to deuce. Karlovic prevailed with a break for each set.
Eighth seed Fabio Fognini beat Paul Henry Mathieu 6-4 3-6 6-4 to reach the second round. Fognini faced a break point at the start of the match but held his service games. He got the break in the fifth game en route to clinching the first set with 6-4. The Italian broke serve at the start of the second set but Mathieu broke back to draw level. The second set continued on serve until the 8th game when Mathieu broke serve. Mathieu served for the set. Fognini forced the game to deuce in the attempt to break back but Mathieu held his serve to win the second set with 6-3. Fognini had to save break points at the start of the third set, while Mathieu did not have problems to hold his serve. The Frenchman broke serve in the fifth game but Fognini broke straight back. Fognini broke again in the 8th game before serving out for the match for 6-3.
