Alex de Minaur Reaches Australian Open Fourth Round for the First Time

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a sweet 16 for Alex de Minaur…

The 22-year-old Uruguayan & Spanish Australian tennis player has reached the Australian Open‘s round of 16 for the first time, the local hope winning his ninth straight set at Melbourne Park as he defeated Pablo Andujar.

de Minaur, the 32nd seed, beat the Spanish veteran and regular hitting partner Andujar 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in another commanding display as Australian tennis great Rod Laver watched on in the stadium named in his honor on Saturday.

de Minaur will face Italian 20-year-old world No. 10 Jannik Sinner, who has beaten the Australian in both previous encounters, for a place in the quarterfinals.

de Minaur, ranked 42 in the world, lost the first set in his first round clash but has won his past nine to build his best home campaign.

Andujar, who will turn 36 on Sunday, joined the tour in 2003 and has returned from three separate surgeries on his right elbow to hit a ranking high of 32 in the world seven years ago.

He made the Australian earn it, but de Minaur obliged in trademark fashion to run down the Spaniard’s best and counter with some scintillating shot-making of his own.

de Minaur rifled a forehand down the line to secure the decisive break in the first set, while a pinpoint lob earned applause from his opponent in the second set after the Australian had somehow scrambled to stay in the point.

The cracks opened, a double fault handed de Minaur a break in the third set and he rammed home his advantage with another monster forehand in the next game.

“Pretty exciting to play here at Rod Laver Arena at 7pm in front of Rod Laver himself … it’s a pretty amazing feeling and I got the win so what more can I ask for,” de Minaur said on court.

“(I’m expecting) a lot of firepower from Jannik, he’s a hell of a player so I’m just looking forward to it.”

de Minaur is set to rise at least nine spots to No. 33 in the world thanks to his career-best performance at Melbourne Park.

Pablo Andujar Comes Back from Two-Sets Down to Upset Dominic Thiem in French Open First Round

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Andujar is celebrating a massive upset…

The 35-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated reigning US Open champion and two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.

Andujar, ranked 68th in the workd, came back from two sets down to claim the Roland Garros win against the fourth-seeded Austrian.

It marked the first time in eight appearances at the clay-court Grand Slam that Thiem lost his opening match.

Andujar also defeated Roger Federer in Geneva earlier this month. It’s the first time in his career that Andujar has come back to win after losing the opening two sets.

Thiem, who lost the 2018 and 2019 finals to Rafael Nadal, dropped to 11-9 in five-set matches.

Pablo Andujar Upsets Roger Federer at Geneva Open

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Andujar is celebrating a major victory…

The 35-year-old Spanish professional tennis player beat a rusty Roger Federer 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at the Geneva Open.

It was Federer’s official return to the ATP Tour at the claycourt tournament. He missed nearly the entire 2020 season after twice having knee surgery. He returned to the Tour at the Qatar Open in March, but hadn’t played since losing in the quarterfinals in Doha.

On Tuesday, Federer went toe-to-toe with Andujar in their first-ever meeting, showing plenty of encouraging signs with his shot-making and on-court movement ahead of the French Open.

After bouncing back in the second set, Federer looked poised to run away with the contest before an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration put an end to any hopes of an extended run at his home tournament.

Andujar, ranked 75th in the world, made a strong start, while Federer struggled to settle into his serving rhythm early on.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas Reaches Swiss Open Final

Posted on July 28, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Albert Ramos-Vinolasis one win away from his first title of the season…

The 31-year-old Spanish tennis player has reached his first ATP Tour final of the season at the Swiss Open Gstaad on Saturday with a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory against 2014 champion Pablo Andujar.

“I’m really happy,” Ramos-Vinolas said. “I have a chance to play another final tomorrow here in Gstaad. I love this tournament, I feel great. I’m really happy and I’m ready to give my 200 percent.”

Ramos-Vinolas has won all eight of his sets this week, defeating three of the ATP 250tournament’s seeds.

Entering the semifinals, Ramos-Vinolas had only emerged victorious in one of seven previous head to head meetings against Andujar, but Ramos-Vinolas claimed 43 percent of his first-serve return points en route to victory in one hour and 54 minutes.

Ramos-Vinolasis into his first tour-level final since Quito last year. Ramos-Vinolas has made six championship matches, with his lone ATP Tourtitle coming at Båstad in 2016.

The former World No. 17 was broken first in the match, giving Andujar a 5-3 lead after Ramos-Vinolas couldn’t stave off a sixth break point of the game. But he broke back immediately, and stormed to a 4/0 lead in the first-set tie-break, never looking back from there.

There was a rain delay with two points remaining in the match, but Ramos-Vinolas won two points upon the resumption to go through.

“It’s never easy, but I felt good,” Ramos-Vinolas said. “I won a little bit of a lucky point the last point before we stopped… it was difficult for me, but I thought it was more difficult for him.”

Andújar Defeats Juan Monaco to Win First Title in More Than Two Years

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

The title drought is over for Pablo Andújar…

The 28-year-old Spanish tenista beat Argentina’s Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-5 in the Swiss Open final on Sunday to claim his first ATP title in more than two years.

It was the 71st-ranked player’s third career title, all on clay courts. He also won at Casablanca, Morocco, in 2011 and 2012.

Andújar got the only break in the first set to take a 5-3 lead and then held serve to close out the set.

Monaco, ranked No. 105 two years after being in the top 10, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second and served for the set up 5-3.

But Andújar reeled off four straight games, clinching the match by holding serve at love.

Andújar Defeats Fernando Verdasco to Reach the Swiss Open Final

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Andújar could soon have a third ATP title…

The 28-year-old Spanish tennis player has advanced to the Swiss Open men’s final.

Andújar, unseeded in the tournament and ranked No. 71, beat fourth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1 in an all-Spain semifinal at the clay-court Roy Emerson Arena.

Andújar wasted a winning chance in the second set when, two points from victory at 5-3, he sent down back-to-back double faults.

However, he dominated the decider with three service breaks.

He’ll face Argentina’s Juan Monaco in Sunday’s final.

Monaco rallied from losing the first three games to win 6-3, 7-6 (4) against seventh-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands.

Monaco, now 105th-ranked two years after peaking at No. 10, will seek his ninth career title Sunday.

Garcia-Lopez Defeats Marcel Granollers to Win This Year’s Grand Prix Hassan II Title

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is back to his old winning ways…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis player claimed his first title in nearly four years after rallying to defeat his compatriot Marcel Granollers at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Sunday.

After losing the first set, Garcia-Lopez stormed back to take the next two sets in the all-Spanish final on the clay court in Casablanca, Morocco. The final score: 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Garcia-Lopez’s previous title was on indoor hard courts in Bangkok in 2010, and he’d lost his matched in the previous two finals in which he competed — last year on clay at Bucharest, Romania and on indoor hard courts at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Granollers, who was hoping to win his fifth career title, dropped his serve five times and was less consistent. He won only 60 percent of his first-serve points compared to 76 percent for Garcia-Lopez, who won their only previous meeting in the second round of the same tournament in 2010.

Garcia-Lopez continued the recent dominance of his countrymen at the tournament, becoming the fourth different Spaniard to win in the past six years after Tommy Robredo (2013), Pablo Andujar (2011 and 2012) and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero (2009).

This is the third singles title of Garcia-Lopez’s career.

Nadal Defeats Alexandr Dolgopolov to Win the Rio Open Title

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is back in winning form…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star returned from a bothersome back injury to win the Rio Open in Brazil on Sunday, taking down the Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Nadal’s victory comes four weeks after he lost in the final at the Australian Open to underdog Stanislas Wawrinka after hurting his back during the warm up.

Nadal, who had to fend off two match points in the semifinal against Pablo Andujar, looked more comfortable in the final and improved his record on clay to 298-21, the best in the Open Era.

Dolgopolov has lost all five matches he’s played against Nadal.

It’s the 62nd career title for Nadal, and he extends his record of ATP 500 titles to 15 with the win.

Ferrer Advances to Semi-Finals at Argentina’s Copa Claro

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

David Ferrer is one step closer to reaching 21…

21 ATP tournament titles, that is.

The 31-year-old Spanish tenista beat his compatriot Albert Ramos 6-1, 6-2 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Copa Claro tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ferrer, the two-time defending champion in Buenos Aires and this year’s No. 1 seed, is hoping to win his 21st ATP tournament.

Second-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy and No. 3 Tommy Robredo of Spain are also into the semifinals, and they’ll face each other on Saturday.

Fognini, who won the ATP event last week in Chile, advanced Friday by defeating Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-4, 6-3.

Robredo won his match against Robin Haase of the Netherlands. Robredo won the first set 6-1, and Haase retired with an injury after falling behind 2-0 in the second set.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament with a back injury but will play next week in the Rio Open in Rio de Janeiro.

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