TENNIS ACAPULCO – Maria Sharapova rallied from a second-set loss to beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 4-6 6-2. Kei Nishikori won a hard-fought quarter final in straight sets with 6-4 6-4 against Alexander Dolgopolov at the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco to qualify for his third semifinal of the year. Diego Sampaolo
Acapulco ATP 500
Kei Nishikori won a hard-fought quarter final in straight sets with 6-4 6-4 against Alexander Dolgopolov at the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco to qualify for his third semifinal of the year. The first set started with a very tight a long first game which came down to deuce . It went on serve until the ninth game when Nishikori broke serve after Dolgopolov committed a costly double fault. Nishikori broke serve in the fifth game of the second set en route to taking the win in straight sets with 6-4. Nishikori fended off four of the five break points he faced during the match.
Nishikori, who won in Memphis this year, will move up to World Number 4 if he reaches the Acapulco final
“It was a really tough match especially with the wind. Anderson has been playing well this week”, said Nishikori
Nishikori will take on last year’s Acapulco finalist Kevin Anderson who fought back from a set down to edge Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-3 6-3. Troicki broke serve in the sixth game to clinch the first set with 6-3 but Anderson bounced back and won the second set forcing the match to the third set. Anderson broke serve at the start of the third set en route to winning the third set with 6-3.
Ryan Harrison fought back from a set down to battle past Ivo Karlovic 4-6 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 after two hours and 25 minutes. Karlovic broke serve in the third game of the first set en route to clinching the first set with 6-4. The second set went on serve until the tie-break where Karlovic dropped his serve four times losing 7-0. There were no breaks in the decider which was decided by the tie-break. After six mini-breaks (four for Harrison and two for Karlovic) Harrison won the tie-break with 7-4. The US player will face three-time Acapulco winner David Ferrer who overcame Bernard Tomic 6-4 3-6 6-1 in one hour and 41 minutes keeping his hopes alive to defend his title. Ferrer won the first set with a break in the fifth game. Tomic recovered winning the second set with a break in the eighth game. Ferrer dominated the third set with a break in a perfect sixth game.
Acapulco WTA
In the women’s tournament Maria Sharapova rallied from a second-set loss to beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 4-6 6-2. Sharapova built up a 6-1 2-2 before Rybarikova fought back reeling off five of the next seven games to clinch the second set with 6-4. Rybarikova won the first game of the third set but Sharapova won six of the next seven game to wrap up the match after two hours and 13 minutes.
Sharapova will take one Caroline Garcia who was leading 6-2 2-1 when Mirjana Lucic Baroni withdrew.
Sesil Karantcheva fought back from a set down to upset Monica Puig from Puerto Rico 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4. The Bulgarian player will face Swiss Timea Bacsinszky who beat Johanna Larson 6-3 6-3.
