Verdasco, Monfils Reach Dubai QFs; Berdych Beaten
Former World No. 7 Fernando Verdasco battled to a confidence-boosting win on Wednesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, edging fellow Spaniard and sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals.
Since reaching the semi-finals in the first week of the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha (l. to Djokovic after holding five match points), the left-hander had won just one match in three tournaments. But he toughed out victory over Bautista Agut in two hours and 26 minutes, breaking in the final game to seal the win.
"With him, until the last point you have to have unbelievable focus and fight every point," said Verdasco. "That's what I did, and I'm very happy that I went through and I'm in the quarter-finals for the first time here.
"Always beating these kind of players gives me confidence. They give you unbelievable rhythm, and it's always good for your game."
The 33-year-old Verdasco goes on to face fourth seed Gael Monfils, who finished strongly to beat Daniel Evans 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in one hour and 35 minutes. Monfils saved five of the six break points he faced to notch his sixth win of the season, taking him to three wins away from the 400th victory of his career (397-220 record).
Monfils has never lost to Verdasco in their three previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings and is bidding to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season.
One day after Stan Wawrinka’s defeat, another seeded player fell as Robin Haase rallied from a set down to oust No. 5 Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just over two hours. Berdych was runner-up at this ATP World Tour 500 tournament in 2013 (l. to Djokovic) and 2014 (l. to Federer).
Seventh seed Lucas Pouille kept up his good run of form, defeating qualifier Marius Copil 6-1, 6-4 in 59 minutes. The Frenchman is coming off a runner-up showing at the Open 13 Marseille (l. to Tsonga). He could next face seven-time Dubai champion Roger Federer, should the Swiss beat Evgeny Donskoy.
Philipp Kohlschreiber set a potential quarter-final clash with top seed Andy Murray as he defeated #NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4. Murray faces Guillermo Garcia-Lopez this evening.