(June 21, 2016) World No. 24 Kevin Anderson needed more than two hours to beat Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 to move into the round of 16 of Nottingham.
“It was a very difficult match out there,” he said. “I was really pleased with the way I stayed patient, as it was tough to lose that second set, but it paid off in the end.”
He’ll next face Fernando Verdasco: “We’ve played a couple of times, he’s one of the best ball-strikers in the game. It’s going to be a tough match but I can take many positives into it from today.”
British No. 4 Dan Evans came back to reach the third round at the Aegon Open Nottingham, beating Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 2-6 7-6(3) 6-2 to set up a meeting with second seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s Centre Court tie against Cuevas will be the first time Evans has made the third round at an ATP World Tour event since February 2014 in Zagreb.
“It was tough one,” the 26-year-old said after his win over Berankis. “He was playing far better than me at the start. I just had to hang in, try and get some momentum in the second set, stay with him. I snuck the tie-break and then I was on top in the third.”
Ahead of his first match against Cuevas, Evans added: “I don’t know him that well at all. It’ll be a good match and good to get back out there again. It’s all good practice for next week. It’s been nice to get two wins so far and hopefully I can get another tomorrow.”
Former World No. 8 Baghdatis came through round two in straight sets against Russian Evgeny Donskoy, continuing his streak in the East Midlands, where he is yet to lose a completed match on what is his fourth appearance at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.
“I feel undefeated here,” the 31-year-old from Cyprus said. “I played the Challenger here twice and the ATP once before. I retired in the first Challenger I played, won the second and then retired last year in semis, so I feel happy and good here
“Every time I come to Nottingham I play good tennis.”
AEGON OPEN NOTTINGHAM – NOTTINGHAM, GBR
€704,805
19-25 JUNE 2016
RESULTS – JUNE 21, 2016
Men’s Singles – Second Round
[1] K. Anderson (RSA) d I. Dodig (CRO) 63 67(5) 63
[2] P. Cuevas (URU) d [Q] S. Robert (FRA) 64 76(3)
D. Sela (ISR) d [3] J. Sousa (POR) 63 76(3)
[4] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) d K. Edmund (GBR) 64 76(5)
[5] S. Querrey (USA) d [Q] E. Escobedo (USA) 64 64
[6] S. Johnson (USA) d J. Millman (AUS) 62 62
[7] A. Seppi (ITA) d M. Jaziri (TUN) 75 63
[8] G. Muller (LUX) d J. Vesely (CZE) 76(2) 62
[9] M. Baghdatis (CYP) d E. Donskoy (RUS) 75 62
M. Youzhny (RUS) d [10] P. Carreno Busta (ESP) 61 64
[11] V. Pospisil (CAN) d D. Dzumhur (BIH) 61 64
A. Mannarino (FRA) d [12] P. Lorenzi (ITA) 62 62
B. Becker (GER) d [13] G. Pella (ARG) 36 61 63
[14] F. Verdasco (ESP) d V. Estrella Burgos (DOM) 61 46 63
[Q] F. Dancevic (CAN) d [15] M. Kukushkin (KAZ) 46 76(4) 76(2)
D. Evans (GBR) d [16] R. Berankis (LTU) 26 76(3) 62
First Round
D. Dzumhur (BIH) d D. Istomin (UZB) 16 76(4) 64
Men’s Doubles – First Round
[2] D. Inglot (GBR) / D. Nestor (CAN) d J. Erlich (ISR) / C. Fleming (GBR) 76(6) 61
R. Lindstedt (SWE) / A. Qureshi (PAK) d J. Knowle (AUT) / M. Matkowski (POL) 63 75
S. Gonzalez (MEX) / S. Lipsky (USA) d [WC] K. Skupski (GBR) / N. Skupski (GBR) 76(1) 63
ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2016
CENTRE COURT start 12:00 noon
[5] S. Querrey (USA) vs [9] M. Baghdatis (CYP)
D. Evans (GBR) vs [2] P. Cuevas (URU)
[8] G. Muller (LUX) vs M. Youzhny (RUS)
[1] K. Anderson (RSA) vs [14] F. Verdasco (ESP)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
A. Mannarino (FRA) vs [7] A. Seppi (ITA)
D. Sela (ISR) vs B. Becker (GER)
[Q] F. Dancevic (CAN) vs [4] A. Dolgopolov (UKR)
[11] V. Pospisil (CAN) vs [6] S. Johnson (USA)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
N. Monroe (USA) / A. Sitak (NZL) vs [2] D. Inglot (GBR) / D. Nestor (CAN)
[1] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA) vs [WC] J. Marray (GBR) / A. Shamasdin (CAN)
[3] T. Huey (PHI) / M. Mirnyi (BLR) vs O. Marach (AUT) / F. Martin (FRA)
S. Gonzalez (MEX) / S. Lipsky (USA) vs P. Cuevas (URU) / J. Sousa (POR)