Two major seeds fell in Acapulco Wednesday, as David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori were both summarily dispatched in straight sets, by Alexandr Dolgopolov and Sam Querrey respectively.
Top seed Ferrer was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by the resurgent Dolgopolov, who looks set to climb back into the Top 30 after a long spell outside. Ferrer struggled against the first serve in the opening set, as Dolgopolov won all eleven first serve points, but managed to win more than half the second serve points. Ferrer though averaged only averaged 53% on both his first and second serves,. The result was two breaks for Dolgopolov and one for Ferrer. The second set saw both players improve, but it was Dolgopolov who continued to take control. The Ukrainian broke Ferrer midway through the set and managed to serve out. Ferrer put up a strong fight in the last game, fighting back to deuce from forty-love only to see Dolgopolov hold.
The warning signs for Kei Nishikori were evident even before he took to the court against Sam Querrey. The American gave him serious trouble in the semi-finals of Memphis two weeks ago, and had three career wins over Nishikori prior to their meeting in Acapulco. Querrey also won the Delray Beach title just last week, and is in fantastic form. Querrey employed similar tactics to that semi-final, ripping forehands and trying to keep points as short as possible This time it worked. Querrey broke the Nishikori serve twice in the first (broken himself once), one at the end of the set to ensure he served first in the second. Querrey held Nishikori in the second, dropping just five points on serve, and put the Japanese star under constant pressure, earning seven break points, finally taking one. Querrey could break back into the Top 30 should his run here continue.
Standing in Querrey’s way is the young American star Taylor Fritz, who made short work of a man nearly twice his age in Victor Estrella Burgos. Fritz dropped just one service game, and broke the Quito winner four times, to wrap up the win in just over an hour 6-1, 6-3.
That is as good as things got for the Americans, as Donald Young and Ryan Harrison both saw their runs come to an end. Harrison surrendered what turned out to be a crucial break lead early in the first on the way to a 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 defeat to Illya Marchenko. Donald Young was bested by Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4.
Bernard Tomic looks back in form following his first round exit in Delray Beach, as he beat Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4. The Australian has not dropped a set yet this week. In-form Dominic Thiem dropped the first set to tour veteran Dmitry Tursunov, but came through 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Robin Haase stole the first set by breaking in the last game against Aljaz Bedene, and it would prove important in a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory.
