Montreal: Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman saved four match points to shock third-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-7(7/9), 7-5 in the second round of the ATP Montreal Masters tennis tournament here Tuesday.
World No. 36 Schwartzman seized the initiative against the seventh-ranked Austrian, who fell at the first hurdle after enjoying a first-round bye Monday.
On the defensive early, Thiem held on to level the match at a set apiece on his fifth set point of the second-set tie-breaker. And the 23-year-old appeared to have gained control when he powered to a 5-2 lead in the third set.
But Schwartzman wouldn’t go away, saving two match points on his serve at 3-5, another in the next game and yet another as he served to take the set to 5-5.
Schwartzman then broke to serve for the match. He fell behind 0-40, but won the last five points of the match for his first win over a top 10 player and a berth in the third round.
Schwartzman’s wasn’t the only great escape of the day. Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov saved four match points en route to a 4-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva in their first-round encounter.
“It’s matches like this I live for and that I play for,” said Shapovalov, who earned a second-round meeting with former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.
In another men’s singles match South Korean 21-year-old Chung Hyeon withstood 16 aces to beat 2014 semifinalist Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3). He next faces ninth-seeded Belgian David Goffin, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over Japan’s Yuichi Sugita.
Croatian 20-year-old Borna Coric breezed past Russian lucky loser Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with top-seeded Rafa Nadal. The Croatian has won two of his three encounters with the Spaniard.
In women’s singles Eugenie Bouchard’s mid-season nosedive continued as the Canadian was swept aside 3-6, 4-64 by Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic despite having home advantage and the backing of an excited crowd in a first round clash. In another match former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki opened her campaign with a 6-3, 6-0 second round rout of Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Agencies
