PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Ivo Karlovic won the last five points of the 3rd set tiebreaker to defeat American Tennys Sandgren 4-6 6-4 7-6(6) on Grandstand Court to open his campaign at the Western & Southern Open on Saturday.
The match was played at a rapid pace as thirty games were completed before hitting the ninety minute mark. Only two breaks of serve were recorded in the match and ironically, they came in consecutive fashion. Sandgren broke at love as Karlovic was attempting to take the opening set into a tiebreaker at 4-5. Ironically, the last four games of the opening set were won at love, including the break of serve to close the first set.
Sandgren fell behind 0-40 in the opening game of the second set, got back to 30-40 and then dropped the next point as Karlovic nosed ahead 1-0. In the sixth game of the second set, Karlovic fell behind 0-40 before winning the next five points to take the game and go up 4-2.
Neither player threatened to break for the rest of the match as aces and serve and volley dictated play for the majority of the rest of the match. In fact, seven of the first eight games of the final set were holds of serve at love.
Sandgren raced to leads of 5-1 and 6-3 in the third set tiebreaker. However, it was Karlovic who steadied his game when it counted most as he would win both of his points while serving to stay in the match at 3-6, take both of the points when Sandgren served at 6-5 and 6-all and then close the match with his 25th ace of the match to complete the victory.
Karlovic advances to play Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third match on Court 7 in the final round of qualifying.
Monica Puig serving to Anastasia Potapova on Court 10 in Cincinnati. Pete Ziebron Images
Both Anastasia Potapova and Monica Puig struggled during the warmups, as a rally of more than three consecutive strokes was a rarity on Court 10 shortly after 10 AM. The sloppy play prior to the beginning of the match carried into the opening set as eight breaks of serve were recorded, including six in a row beginning at three-all.
Potapova did manage to steady her game a bit in the tiebreaker as she jumped to a 4-1 lead and served two aces when leading at 5-2 to close the breaker and take the opening set. This were the only aces struck by either player in the first set.
However, Potapova would win just eleven points in the second set as Puig broke the Russian in her first two service games of the set and would coast to take the set at 6-1 and even the match.
With Puig serving at 1-2 in the final set, Potapova broke in a lengthy 14 point game to lead 3-1 but was not able to consolidate and we were back on serve. Following a Puig hold to square the set at 3-all, neither player could hold in the next three games and Puig would serve for the match at 5-4. It was a struggle as Potapova battled to 30-all before Puig pulled away and won the final two points to claim a 6-7(2) 6-1 6-4 victory in 2 hours and 28 minutes.
Monica Puig advances and will play another Russian, Veronika Kudermetova again on Court 10 at 10 AM on Sunday.
Bernie Tomic retires after nine minutes in Cincinnati. Pete Ziebron Images
Less than one hundred people gathered to watch Bernie Tomic play Andrey Rublev on Court 7 on Saturday afternoon. Tomic looked loose and casual during the warmups and carried that "style of play" immediately into the match. As a result of his quick serving, he double faulted twice as Rublev broke at love.
After dropping the opening game of the second game, Rublev won the next four points and hit consecutive aces to jump to a 2-0 lead. Then it became apparent that something was wrong with Tomic as he was hitting serves with no pace. After double faulting to go down 0-30, he managed to win the next three points as Rublev leaked errors as he attempted to return serves with no pace on them at all. After double faulting for the fourth time in two games to get to deuce, Tomic somehow managed to win the next two points to take the game.
Next, Tomic immediately called for the trainer and was favoring his right shoulder and the right side of his neck. After a brief consultation, Tomic shook the hand of the chair umpire and retired. Rublve advances and will play Mikhail Kukushkin on Grandstand Court in the final round of qualification play.
The match lasted nine minutes.
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