Roberto Bautista Agut Claims Winston-Salem Open Title Without Dropping a Set

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Bautista Agut makes history while claiming his first title at the Winston-Salem Open…

The 29-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday in the final of the Winston-Salem Open, giving him his second ATP World Tour title of the year and the sixth overall.

Bautista Agut, the tournament’s top seed and currently ranked No. 15 in the world, became the first player in the seven-year history of the tournament to not lose a set in any of his six matches. He won a year after losing the final to countryman Pablo Carreno Busta.

“It was a tough final, but I played very good tennis all week,” Bautista Agut said. “I wanted to try to arrive at the final and it was a very good week for me. And it’s been a very good year for me now, too.”

The unseeded Dzumhur was the first player from Bosnia-Herzegovina to reach an ATP World Tour final.

“I started both sets love-three down and came back, but it’s not easy to win after being down love-three to win a set against any player, but especially against Roberto, who played a great week,” Dzumhur said. “He played with a lot of confidence and played big points so good, especially both sets at four-all. He played great points and great passing shots, and I just didn’t have a lot of chances in those games.”

Bautista Agut broke at 30-40, closing out the match when Dzumhur’s forehand sailed long at 30-40.

Bautista Agut had a chance to win the match on his serve when he led 5-3, but was broken at love.

Bautista Agut broke Dzumhur to win the first set, then won the first three games of the second set before Dzumhur rallied to win the next three games and tie it 3-3.

Bautista Agut held serve in the next game to take a 4-3 lead and broke Dzumhur again on a lob shot that hit the baseline for a 5-3 lead.

Roberto Bautista Agut Defeats Kei Nishikori to Reach Fourth Round at Wimbledon

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Bautista Agut has pulled off an upset…

The 29-year-old Spanish tennis player, seeded No. 18, beat ninth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan in the third round 6-4, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3.

This was their fifth match against each other on tour — and the first won by Bautista Agut.

“I couldn’t maintain my level high enough,” Nishikori said. “I think he served well every set. Was really tough time (on) my return game.”

Bautista Agut reached the fourth round at the All England Club for the second time, having reached it in 2015. He reached the third round last year. But he has never reached the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament, losing all eight previous times he got to the round of 16 at majors — the most losses without a win by any man during the Open Era, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Bautista Agut’s next opponent is No. 7 seed Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion who advanced by beating No. 26 seed Steve Johnson of the United States, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Carreno Busta Defeats Nikola Mektic to Send Spain Into Davis Cup Quarterfinals

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Carreno Busta has helped keep Spain alive in Davis Cup play…

The 25-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Nikola Mektic 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-4 as Spain edged depleted Croatia to reach the quarterfinals on Sunday with a 3-2 victory.

Earlier Sunday, Roberto Bautista Agut defeated Croatia’s Franko Skugor 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (6) to put Spain level at 2-2 and send the match into the deciding rubber.
Croatia won the doubles on Saturday for a surprise 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

Croatia, last year’s World Group runner-up, played with a reserve lineup as it missed its four top players — Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, Borna Coric and Ivan Dodig.

Spain was without Rafael Nadal.

Spain will play Serbia in the quarterfinals which completed its 4-1 rout of Russia on Sunday.

Lopez to Replace Rafael Nadal for Spain’s Next Davis Cup Series

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Feliciano Lopez is ready to rumble…

The 35-year-old Spanish tennis player will replace Rafael Nadal on Spain’s Davis Cup team.

Nadal decided to take time off after his Australian Open final loss to Roger Federer.

The Spanish tennis federation said Nadal has been dropped from Spain’s Davis Cup team because of fatigue following his five-set loss to Federer in Sunday’s final.

Lopez will now fill in for Nadal at next weekend’s best-of-five series at Croatia in the first round of the World Group.

The federation said the decision was made after a recommendation by doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro, who said Nadal’s recovery time would be too short. He said it was taken into consideration that Nadal played a significant number of matches after a four-month layoff because of a wrist injury.

“Rafa’s wear and tear in the last month was very significant,” Spain captain Conchita Martinez said. “He needs to recover from his recent efforts and certainly will be with us again in the next rounds.”

The 14-time Grand Slam champion is expected to return to action in Rotterdam from Feb. 13-19.

Nadal, ranked No. 6 in the world, helped Spain defeat India last year to secure its return to the World Group, although he missed his singles match because of the lingering wrist injury.

The other Spanish players to face Croatia are Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta and Marc Lopez.

Nadal Defeats Gael Monfils at the Australian Open to Reach His 30th Career Grand Slam Quarterfinal

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is one step closer to a real comeback…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star and former World No. 1, who hasn’t won a Grand Slam since taking the French Open title in 2014, defeated sixth-seeded Gael Monfils in four sets on Monday to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the 30th time.

Nadal’s victory is even prompting talk of a possible Australian Open final against Roger Federer.

With No. 1-ranked Andy Murray and No. 2 Novak Djokovic — the two most consistent performers in the past six years at Melbourne Park — upset in the first week, Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, Nadal’s next opponent, is the highest-ranked player left in the draw.

He advanced to the last eight here for the third straight year with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut.

Nadal, seeded No. 9 at this tournament, is the only major winner still in contention on the bottom half of the draw, although he hasn’t added to his tally of 14 majors since the capturing the French Open in 2014.

Federer, in the top half of the draw, plays Mischa Zverev on Tuesday, and would have to beat him and either Stan Wawrinka or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — the other quarterfinalists playing Tuesday — to advance to the final.

Nadal’s 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over US Open semifinalist Monfils in the fourth round was his first over a top-10 player at a Grand Slam since that run to his last title at Roland Garros. It also ended a four-match losing streak against top-10 players.

“Being in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam after couple of years not being there is very special for me,” said Nadal, who last progressed this far at the 2015 French Open.

It also showed that after a couple of months off to rest his injured left wrist, he is still a contender at the majors. He hasn’t won an Australian title since 2009.

He went up a break early in the first two sets, had his chances in the third before Monfils rallied, and then traded breaks in the fourth before breaking the acrobatic Frenchman to win. Overall, he converted six of 17 break point chances.

Carreño Beats Roberto Bautista Agut at Winston-Salem Open to Win First Career Title

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

The third final’s the charm for Pablo Carreño Busta…

The 25-year-old Spanish professional tennis player won his first ATP World Tour title on Saturday, beating countryman Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets in the Winston-Salem Open final.

Carreño, ranked 49th in the world, overcame dropping a first-set tiebreaker at the Wake Forest Tennis Center to upset 17th-ranked Agut 6-7 (8), 7-6 (1), 6-4 and win his first tour title in three final-round appearances, all coming in 2016.

Carreño needed just over 2½ hours to become the sixth first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season, and the first to do so in an American tournament.

Agut was trying to win his third tournament this season, becoming the fifth player on tour to win three or more titles, and the fifth of his career. He won earlier this year at Auckland, New Zealand, and Sofia, Bulgaria.

Muguruza: The Higest-Seeded Latina at This Year’s Wimbledon

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

If all goes her way, Garbine Muguruza will most certainly get a rematch with Serena Williams in the Wimbledon finals…

The 22-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player, who lost to the World No. 1 tennis player 4-6, 4-6 in last year’s final, is seeded No. 2 for this year’s tournament at the All-England Club.

Muguruza, who bested Williams at the French Open to win the first Grand Slam title of her career, cannot face Serena, seeded No.1, until the final at Wimbledon, since they’re both in separate halves of the draw.

Seedings were based on the current world rankings but rearranged to reflect players’ grass-court achievements.

Muguruza is the highest-seeded Hispanic player on the women’s and men’s side. She’s followed by Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at No. 13 and Caroline Garcia, who recently won her first-ever title on grass at the Mallorca Open, at No. 31.

Spain’s David Ferrer is the highest-seeded player on the men’s side at No. 13. He’s followed by Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut at No. 14, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez at No. 22 and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas at No. 29.

Play at the third Grand Slam of the year starts Monday.

GENTLEMEN’S SINGLES
1 DJOKOVIC, Novak (SRB)
2 MURRAY, Andy (GBR)
3 FEDERER, Roger (SUI)
4 WAWRINKA, Stan (SUI)
5 NISHIKORI, Kei (JPN)
6 RAONIC, Milos (CAN)
7 GASQUET, Richard (FRA)
8 THIEM, Dominic (AUT)
9 CILIC, Marin (CRO)
10 BERDYCH, Tomas (CZE)
11 GOFFIN, David (BEL)
12 TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried (FRA)
13 FERRER, David (ESP)
14 BAUTISTA AGUT, Roberto (ESP)
15 KYRGIOS, Nick (AUS)
16 SIMON, Gilles (FRA)
17 MONFILS, Gael (FRA)
18 ISNER, John (USA)
19 TOMIC, Bernard (AUS)
20 ANDERSON, Kevin (RSA)
21 KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp (GER)
22 LOPEZ, Feliciano (ESP)
23 KARLOVIC, Ivo (CRO)
24 ZVEREV, Alexander (GER)
25 TROICKI, Viktor (SRB)
26 PAIRE, Benoit (FRA)
27 SOCK, Jack (USA)
28 QUERREY, Sam (USA)
29 CUEVAS, Pablo (URU)
30 DOLGOPOLOV, Alexandr (UKR)
31 SOUSA, Joao (POR)
32 POUILLE, Lucas (FRA)

LADIES’ SINGLES
1 WILLIAMS, Serena (USA)
2 MUGURUZA, Garbine (ESP)
3 RADWANSKA, Agnieszka (POL)
4 KERBER, Angelique (GER)
5 HALEP, Simona (ROU)
6 AZARENKA, Victoria (BLR)
7 VINCI, Roberta (ITA)
8 BENCIC, Belinda (SUI)
9 WILLIAMS, Venus (USA)
10 KEYS, Madison (USA)
11 KVITOVA, Petra (CZE)
12 BACSINSZKY, Timea (SUI)
13 SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla (ESP)
14 KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana (RUS)
15 STOSUR, Samantha (AUS)
16 PLISKOVA, Karolina (CZE)
17 KONTA, Johanna (GBR)
18 SVITOLINA, Elina (UKR)
19 STEPHENS, Sloane (USA)
20 CIBULKOVA, Dominika (SVK)
21 ERRANI, Sara (ITA)
22 PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia (RUS)
23 JANKOVIC, Jelena (SRB)
24 IVANOVIC, Ana (SRB)
25 STRYCOVA, Barbora (CZE)
26 BEGU, Irina-Camelia (ROU)
27 BERTENS, Kiki (NED)
28 VANDEWEGHE, Coco (USA)
29 SAFAROVA, Lucie (CZE)
30 KASATKINA, Daria (RUS)
31 GARCIA, Caroline (FRA)
32 MLADENOVIC, Kristina (FRA)

Bautista Agut Outlasts Steve Johnson to Reach Valencia Open Final

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It wasn’t easy, but Roberto Bautista Agut has reached his sixth ATP World Tour final.

The 27-year-old Spanish player saved six match points before defeating American Steve Johnson 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) Saturday to reach the final of the Valencia Open.

Johnson had his first match point in the 12th game of the deciding set and then led 6-3 in the tiebreaker without being able to clinch the win.

Bautista Agut then set up his first match point with a backhand return winner and converted it when Johnson sent a backhand long.

He’ll next play Joao Sousa in the final after the Portuguese player beat Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4.

“It was an incredible match,” Bautista Augut said. “It was really tough and I was really close to losing. I think today I could win, I could lose — anything was possible on the court.”

Bautista Agut is hoping to clinch his first title of the year.

Bautista Agut Defeats Ernests Gulbis to Reach Kremlin Cup Final

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s been a banner year for Roberto Bautista Agut, winning the first two ATP World Tour titles of his career this summer. And, now he’s gunning for his third.

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis player reached his third final of the year after a 6-4, 6-4 victory over third seed Ernests Gulbis at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Saturday.

Bautista Agut, the tournament’s fifth seed, will meet second seed Marin Cilic in the championship match.

In the 15th position in the Emirates ATP Race To London, he claimed 75 percent of his service points and did not drop serve through 10 service games against Gulbis.

He broke the Latvian once in each set to close out the match in 82 minutes.

Bautista Agut improved to 1-3 in his his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Gulbis, who most recently prevailed in three sets in their fourth-round encounter at the BNP Paribas Open in March.

He previously won his first ATP title at the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands in June, and then followed it up with a championship win at the Mercedes Cup in Germany in July.

Bautista Agut Defeats Lukas Rosol at the Mercedes Cup to Claim Second ATP Title

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

And then there were two for Roberto Bautista Agut…

Less than one month after winning his first ATP title, the 26-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Lukas Rosol 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the Mercedes Cup final on Sunday for his second career crown.

The third-seeded Bautista Agut saved five of the six break points he faced and converted three of his six chances to win the heated match in 1 hour, 42 minutes.

Rosol, ranked No. 48 in the world, fired 13 aces to Bautista Agut’s two, but the Czech player was unable to prevent the 23rd-ranked Spaniard from claiming his second title.

“Since the start of the season, I believed a lot in myself and my work,” Bautista Agut told the ATP website. “I’ve been playing really well, won a lot of matches and it was only a question of time before this happened.”

Bautista Agut, who defeated defending champion and top-seeded Fabio Fognini on Saturday, claimed his maiden victory at the Topshelf Open last month.

Rosol, who knocked out second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in his semifinal, was also bidding for his second title after winning at Bucharest last year.

“I was looking to find a good rhythm, but the serve was not working at all,” Rosol said. “I had to risk a lot with my shots. The level was not as good as the previous rounds and it’s a pity because I felt really good this week.”

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