Tennis
Two Aussies advance in Munich
2012-05-03 20:03
Munich - Australians Bernard Tomic and Marinko Matosevic took similar paths to the quarter-finals of the BMW Open on Thursday.
Both dominated the opening sets, lost the middle-set tie-breakers and recovered in the third.
The fifth-seeded Tomic beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 to make his first career quarter-final on clay. Tomic, 19, was down a break of serve at the start of the final set before coming back.
Matosevic defeated fellow qualifier Robert Farah of Colombia 6-1, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2. Matosevic, 26, is playing his first career tournament on clay.
Tomic next goes against Feliciano Lopez, the second-seeded Spaniard who beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
Matosevic plays fourth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-5, 6-3.
Kohlschreiber and Lopez had byes into the second round.
In the other quarter-finals, third-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia plays sixth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus meets Tommy Haas of Germany.
Results on Thursday from the BMW Open on outdoor clay at Iphitos Tennis Club (seedings in parentheses):
Second Round
Marinko Matosevic, Australia, def. Robert Farah, Colombia, 6-1, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2.
Bernard Tomic (5), Australia, def. Potito Starace, Italy, 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3.
Philipp Kohlschreiber (4), Germany, def. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, 7-5, 6.3.
Feliciano Lopez (2), Spain, def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).