Competitive matches were the name of the game at the AEGON Championships during first-round action on Tuesday. Roberto Bautista Agut outlasted Sam Querrey 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 7-6(1), Aljaz Bedene beat Benoit Paire in three sets, Janko Tipsarevic took out Grigor Dimitrov in three, Marin Cilic survived Feliciano Lopez 6-4 in the third, lucky loser Jiri Vesely got the best of Jeremy Chardy 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-4, and Andy Murray held off ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Nicolas Mahut in a pair of tiebreakers.
No. 2 Stan Wawrinka was not as fortunate as the top-seeded Murray. Wawrinka got upset by 2013 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 7-6(3) in one hour and 28 minutes while the Spaniard off all eight of the break points he faced.
“I served well,” Verdasco assured. “In general, I felt very good with all of my game…saving the break points that I had.”
Another straight-setter saw Donald Young defeat fellow qualifier Vasek Pospisil, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals last summer. The July and August hard-court swing in the United States is usually the time of year when Young begins to heat up, but he may be finding his form a few weeks earlier this time around. After qualifying for the main draw with wins over Alex Ward and Frances Tiafoe, Young parlayed that success into a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pospisil on Tuesday afternoon.
One break in the opening set was enough for the American, as he saved all five of the break points he faced. But that’s when rain that has been tormenting all of Europe over the past month caused another delay.
Nonetheless, Young was not about to let the interruption halt his momentum. The world No. 75 came back out and also needed to break Pospisil’s serve only once in the second set because he the finished the match nine for nine in break points saved. A big hold at 5-4 sealed the deal for Young after one hour and nine minutes.
Tuesday highlights:
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Pospy just sucks now. Freefall down the rankings not far. Good win for Young though. And huge upset victory for Nando. Sad about Stan but not too surprising lol.
Interesting day, thoroughly enjoyed it! I like it when all the bookies are wrong, guess they forgot to tell these guys they were suppose to lose. That’s the beauty of tennis!