Olivo Upsets Top-Seed Philipp Kohlschreiber at German Open to Reach First Career Semifinal

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Renzo Olivo has pulled off a major upset…

The 24-year-old Argentine tennis player saved two match points and went on to take down top-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber in the German Open quarterfinals on Friday.

Olivo, currently listed as No. 153 in the ATP World Tour rankings, rallied to win 1-6, 6-0, 7-5, saving two match points in the ninth game of the final set as Kohlschreiber was serving for the match at 5-3.

In Olivo’s first career semifinal, he will have to stop third-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.

Cuevas of Uruguay defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 (7), 6-1 in a repeat of the 2009 semifinal that was won by Mathieu.

Cuevas, who won consecutive titles in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in February, fired 12 aces and won 79 percent of his service points to beat Mathieu.

Stephane Robert of France beat eighth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3.

His semifinal opponent will be seventh-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia, who beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-4, 6-3.

Cuevas Upsets Bernard Tomic to Reach Valencia Open Quarterfinals

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Cuevas has pulled off a big upset…

The 29-year-old Uruguayan tennis player upset third-seeded Bernard Tomic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Valencia Open.

Cuevas landed just 38 percent of his first serves in the first set but saved six of the seven break points he faced in the second and then earned the only break in the decider to clinch the win in 1 hour, 48 minutes.

Vasek Pospisil also reached the quarterfinals by beating Britain’s Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, while American Steve Johnson set up a second-round meeting with second-seeded Feliciano Lopez by ousting Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4.

Gimeno-Traver Defeats Jiri Vesely to Reach His First ATP Tour Final

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Daniel Gimeno-Traver has reached his first ATP Tour final…

The 29-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Jiri Vesely at the Grand Prix Hassan II to end his long wait for a place in an ATP final.

Gimeno-Traver produced an impressive display of resilience to fight back from a set down and overcome the third seed 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4.

“It was a difficult match,” said Gimeno-Traver. “Maybe I was a bit too much on defense during the first set, but then I started to play more aggressively, and I felt well during all my service games. I’m very happy to reach my first final here in Casablanca.”

Gimeno-Traver will need to deliver a similar display if he is to claim a maiden tour title, with second seed Martin Klizan standing in his way.

The Slovakian also needed to come from behind to ensure his place in the showpiece, rallying brilliantly from a set and a break down in the second to progress 4-6 6-4 6-0 against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.

“Damir played very well today,” Klizan said. “It was a tough match. I think that I was mentally stronger in the third set, and I’m extremely happy to be in the final.”

Gimeno-Traver is currently ranked No. 95 in the world.

Cuevas Beats Tommy Robredo to Win the Croatia Open and Claim His Second ATP Title

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s turning out to be a memorable month for Pablo Cuevas…

The 28-year-old Uruguayan tennis player beat defending champion Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Croatia Open final and claim his second ATP title in July.

Cuevas’ victory comes hours after he ousted top-seeded Fabio Fognini in the semifinals after heavy rain on Saturday caused the delay of their their match.

The second-seeded Robredo had two break points at 1-1 in the first set, but it was Cuevas who first broke in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead.

Cuevas went ahead 2-0 in the second set and broke the 32-year-old Robredo’s serve once more in the fifth game. Robredo had a break point to level to 4-4.

Robredo hit 36 winners compared to Cuevas’ 26, but had 36 unforced errors against 19 for Cuevas.

Cuevas won his maiden ATP title earlier this month at the Swedish Open in Bastad. He’s the second qualifier to win an ATP World Tour tournament this year after Slovakia’s Martin Klizan at Munich in May.

“I was happy to win the first title, now two in a row make me even happier,” Cuevas said. “And this one was tougher to win, because I had to play in qualifying as well. I was very focused during the week, now I am really tired.”

In his past two attempts in Umag, Cuevas had never gone beyond the second round.

“Pablo played a great match, he made no mistake,” Robredo said. “There were some balls that might have changed the match, but it did not go my way. He was better than me in the first set from the baseline, so I had to change tactics, to be more aggressive.”

Robredo reached the final by defeating third-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (10), 6-3 earlier Sunday, while Cuevas upset Fognini 6-3, 6-4.

Delbonis Defeats Albert Montanes to Reach the Brazil Open Semifinals

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no crying for Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, only cheering…

The 23-year-old professional tennis player soundly defeated Spain’s Albert Montanes in just over an hour to advance to the Brazil Open semifinals.

Delbonis, currently ranked No. 61 in the world, beat Montanes in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

He’s now one win away from reaching the second ATP tournament final of his career as he continues his quest to win his first career title.

Delbonis will next face either home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t such a positive experience for his fellow countrymen…

Top-seeded Tommy Haas came back to defeat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

Haas broke Zeballos’ serve twice in a row in the decisive set to close the match and take a step closer to his second final of the year.

Haas will next play Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who reached his first ATP semifinal with an upset 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina.

“Lorenzi has been around for a long time so this is a goal I’m sure he has been waiting to achieve for a lifetime,” Haas said. “He has nothing to lose and is going to try to go one more and get to his first ATP tour final. He is a dangerous player. I’m going to have to try to play some of my best tennis.”

The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monaco’s serve to go up 4-3 in the final set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena.

The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South America’s biggest city.

Lorenzi served 12 aces en route to his first pro semifinal after five career quarterfinal losses.

“I’m very happy to finally break through to the semifinals,” Lorenzi said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour.”

The 43rd-ranked Monaco was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-highest winner on the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro.

Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldn’t capitalize on it.

“It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult,” Lorenzi said.

Nadal, the defending champion, is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He chose to play at the first edition of the Rio Open, which he won last week.

Bellucci Reaches Quarterfinals at the Brazil Open

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Thomaz Bellucci is making a statement at his home tournament…

The 26-year-old Brazilian tennis player continued to feed off his home crowd Thursday, defeating Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Brazil Open.

Bellucci, a wild card in the tournament, broke Haider-Maurer’s serve early in the third set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 36 minutes at the Ibirapuera arena.

Bellucci, currently ranked 108th, will now play Martin Klizan of Slovakia, who upset third-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-4, 6-3.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina reached the quarterfinals with a marathon 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Albert Ramos of Spain in nearly three hours. He will face Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who cruised past win Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 6-3.

Top-seeded Tommy Haas will play his quarterfinal match against 116th-ranked Horacio Zeballos of Argentina on Friday.

Bellucci Defeats Santiago Giraldo to Advance in the Brazil Open

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

He may be playing on a wild card at the Brazil Open… But Thomaz Bellucci is proving he’s worth the spot.

The 26-year-old Brazilian tennis player pulled off an upset win over Santiago Giraldo, defeating the Colombian – the tournament’s eight seed – 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Brazil Open.

The home-crowd favorite broke Giraldo’s serve to go up 4-2 in the final set, then held on to close out the match in just over two hours at the Ibirapuera arena. The break came right after Giraldo called for treatment on his lower back in between games.

Belluci, ranked No. 108 in the world, had six aces, including three in the decisive set.

“I couldn’t hold on to a 3-0 lead in the first set but I started playing better after that,” Bellucci said. “It makes a big difference to be playing at home with the support of the fans. They got behind me and I got to play more aggressively toward the end. It made a huge difference.”

Bellucci beat Giraldo in three sets last week at the Rio Open. He’ll next face Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer in the second round.

But Belluci isn’t the only Latino playing well in the tournament…

Earlier Tuesday, Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva defeated sixth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Albert Montanes of Spain beat Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 6-2, 6-2, while Federico Delbonis of Argentina defeated Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-1, 6-2.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He won the Rio Open last week.

Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain will play Delbonis, while third-seeded Marcel Granollers plays Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Argentina’s Juan Monaco, who had a bye in the first round along with the other top seeds, debuts against countrymen Guido Pella.

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