Dominic Thiem beat Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene 7-5 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes after a hard-fought matc to reach the quarter finals at the Qatar Open in Doha. Only two seeds have reached the quarter final. Six of the eight highest-ranked players have been knocked out of the tournament in the second round. It was a good day for young players Borna Coric, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached the quarter finals.
The Austrian star converted only three of the 15 break points he created during the match. He has improved his head-to-head record agaianst Bedene.
Thiem got his first break in the fourth game of the first set to open up a 4-1 lead. Bedene broke back in the seventh game for 3-4. The next games went on serve until Thiem broke for the second time in the match.
Thiem wasted his first nine break points in the second set and finally broke in the final game of the second set on his second match point to close out the match after 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Thiem fired nine aces and won 79 % of his first service points.
“The first set was good. I converted break points fine but in the second set I missed too many chances”, said Thiem.
Thiem will take on Greek Next Gen star Stefanos Tsitsipas, who got one break in each set to beat Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4. Tsitsipas broke serve for the first time in the match in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead and consolidated the break at 30 with an ace. He closed the first set at love in the ninth game. He converted his only break point of the second set in the seventh game. He held his next two service games to close out the match in straight sets by 6-3 6-4.
Andrey Rublev beat number 7 seed and last year’s Doha semifinalist Fernando Verdasco 6-4 3-6 6-4 to improve his head-to-record against the Spanish player. Rublev saved 7 of his 11 break points.
The Russian Next Gen player came back from one break down twice in the second and eighth games of the first set before breaking in the 10th game to take a 6-4 win. Verdasco broke serve in the fifth and ninth games en route to winning the second set 6-3.
In the seventh game of the decider Rublev converted his break point to take a 4-3 lead. He broke Verdasco in the ninth game of the decisive set and closed out on his first match point after saving two break points in the 10th game.
The Russian Next Gen player set up a quarter final match against Borna Coric, another player who qualified for the inaugural edition of the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan last November. Coric followed up his win against Pablo Carreno Busta with a 6-1 6-3 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili, who had won his previous head-to-head matches against the Croatian player in Lyon and Cincinnati last year. The Croatian player broke five times and won 54 percent of his return points.
Rublev beat Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin (both finalists at the ATP World Tour Finals in London last November) en route to reaching the US Open quarter finals at last September’s US Open. The Russian 20-year-old player has become the youngest US Open quarter finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001.
Last October Rublev came back from one set down to beat Jack Sock and Tomas Berdych at the China Open in Beijing. The Moscow native ended the 2017 season ranked world number 39 and qualified for the inaugural edition of the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan where he finished runner-up to Hyeon Chung.
“The goal for the 2018 season is to be more consistent. The taste of victories over Dimitrov, Berdych, Goffin and Sock was fleeting. I realise that they are in the top 10 or top 20 for a reason, their year-round consistency. That’s what I want to produce each week. I didn’t think of those victorie sas a stepping stone on a career ladder, more as individual matches in a tournament week. My goal for 2018 is to play at the ATP Next Finals in Milan. This time of my life is the most important as I lay the foundations for a strong future. In working with Fernando Vicente and Galo Blanco in Barcelona during the off-season we worked on problems and weaknesses but nothing specific, as far as stroke play is concerned”, said Rublev.
Gael Monfils scored his second consecutive three-set win this week beating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 1-6 6-3 setting up a quarter final match against another German player Peter Gojowczyk, who beat Italian 21-year-old Matteo Berrettini 6-2 6-2 without facing a break point.
The French player converted two of his seven break point chance and won 59 % of his first serve points. Monfils, who reached the final in Doha three times in 2006, 2012 and 2014, needed one break at love in the eighth game to win the opening set 6-3. Struff broke twice in the fourth and sixth games and saved two break points to win the second set 6-1. Monfils converted his only break point chance in the second game to win the third set 6-3.
“I feel happy to be back on the tour. I feel happy to have those two matches under my belt. I can play better. I think it’s just a matter of time and confidence I am working hard trying to get back to the top of the game again”, said Monfils.
World Number 138 Mirza Basic saved all three three break points he faced to upset Feliciano Lopez 6-4 7-6 (7-2). The player from Bosnia and Herzegovina will face Guido Pella from Argentina, who defeated Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
Verdasco and Lopez are two of the six seeded players who were beaten in the first round, after Pablo Carreno Busta, Tomas Berdych, Albert Ramos Vinolas and Filip Krajinovic lost in their first round matches.
