Sydneysider Chris O’Connell has pulled off among the finest wins of his profession to maintain Australian hopes alive on the Qatar Open in Doha.
The final Aussie standing within the high-quality ATP 250 match outlasted Spanish luminary Roberto Bautista Agut, battling again from the brink of defeat to earn an distinctive 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win in Wednesday’s round-of-16.
It was the 29-year-old’s finest victory since he defeated the then world No.13 Diego Schwartzman in one of many shocks of the match eventually 12 months’s Australian Open.
Bautista Agut has dropped to No.28 on this planet however the 34-year-old stays a troublesome nut to crack and it appeared he was going to file a hard-fought however comparatively simple win as he served for the match within the second set at 5-4.
But world No.94 O’Connell broke again, survived a few break factors of his personal within the subsequent sport and took the marathon set right into a tiebreak, which he largely managed.
In the decider, Bautista Agut appeared to have weathered an early storm after going 2-0 down and incomes a fast break-back, however O’Connell finally earned the decisive breakthrough within the ninth sport, earlier than serving out for victory after a gruelling two hours 39 minutes.
It’s arrange the prospect of a quarter-final tie for the Aussie with former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev, who was taking part in Britain’s Liam Broady afterward Wednesday.
Earlier, O’Connell’s compatriot Jason Kubler had been unable to reprise the very best win of his profession over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Former world junior No.1 Kubler’s dramatic rise final 12 months had been highlighted by his first-ever victory over a top-10 participant when he defeated the No.9 Auger-Aliassime on the Newport Open final July.
But in his first ATP main-tour match since lifting the Australian Open doubles crown with Rinky Hijikata in January, the possibility of the Queenslander repeating his win over Auger-Aliassime within the last-16 disappeared after Kubler had raced right into a one-set lead within the Qatari capital.
Kubler finally did not have the firepower to hassle the Canadian, who’s nonetheless at No.9 on this planet after an detached begin to the season, taking place 4-6 6-1 6-4 in simply over two-and-a-quarter hours.
Things had begun promisingly when the 29-year-old Australian had taken benefit of Auger-Aliassime’s returning struggles, profitable 80 per cent of the factors on his serve within the opening stanza.
But as soon as Auger-Aliassime had discovered his vary, there was by no means a lot doubt because the Canadian broke Kubler’s supply thrice to arrange a quarter-final conflict with Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat Korean Soonwoo Kwon 6-3 6-2.
The defeat was a disappointment for Kubler however his rating nonetheless appears to be like poised to rise once more from his career-best No.74 after he beat Aslan Karatsev, who needed to withdraw with harm when a set down, within the first spherical.
In the day’s blockbuster three-hour tie, the indefatigable Briton Andy Murray as soon as once more defied his 35 years and metallic hip to outlast the No.4 seed Alexander Zverev with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 7-5 win.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
