VIENNA, October 22, 2015
The second round of the Erste Bank Open 500 concluded on Thursday.
Top-seed David Ferrer cruised past Guillermo Garcia-López, winning 6-1, 6-1 in only 62 minutes. The 33-year-old Spaniard saved the only two break Points he faced and converted five of his won to set a quarterfinals clash with Fabio Fognini. The eighth seeded Italian defeated Radek Stepanek, winning 78% of his first service points to seal a 6-1, 6-4 victory in one hour and seven minutes.
“In the first round a played against a leftie and didn’t have rythm in my game. Today was different,” told Ferrer, who reached the final in Vienna last year losing to Andy Murray. “I have good memories with the tournament but everything starts again and the final is still far away. I still need to win two more matches,” the man from Valencia added, leading 8-0 in head to head records with Fognini.
Ferrer, who is currently on eighth position in the ATP Race to London has further improved his chance of qualifying for the season finale by adding 45 points. “I am in the lead over the runners-up. I do not want to be dependent on the results from other players. I want to seal the qualification on my own.”
Steve Johnson reached the quarterfinals
Steve Johnson overcame Jerzy Janowicz, winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-4. The 25-year-old US-American withstood 24 aces from his opponent, hitting 20 of his own to close the match without losing his service after two hours and 13 minutes.
Johnson will take on second seed Kevin Anderson, who also had to go the distance battling hard to beat Jiri Vesely 6-7, 6-3, 7-5. The world number 11 from South Africa smashed 15 aces and saved the two break points he faced converting three of his own to prevail in two hours and 25 minutes.
“I knew that it would become a tough match. Jiri serves well and is also very strong from the baseline. I tried to focus on my own service, which worked out well. In the end only a couple of points made the difference, which is common in matches as close as this was,” Anderson told.
Kevin Anderson
Lukas Rosol knocked out Vienna’s number four Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. The 30-year-old Czech won 78% of his first service points and gained four breaks to close the encounter after one hour and 36 minutes.
“I just didn’t play well enough to win this match,” Tsonga commented on his defeat.
