It was a day of surprises and near misses for the underdogs in the second day of the Brisbane International as a number of high-profile players struggled.
Jordan Thompson defeats (8) David Ferrer 46 75 75. A stunning win for the wildcard, knocking out the veteran Spaniard. Ferrer had taken the first set, breaking Thompson once from three opportunities and, having not faced a single break point himself, seemed on course for a routine victory.
Yet Thompson rallied, and was able to secure the second set late on despite losing his own serve once. He broke the former Roland Garros finalist twice to level affairs. The third set proved almost a mirror image as Ferrer found one break, but Thompson found two again breaking late in the set, leaving Ferrer with no chance to reply.
The win is definitely the best of Thompson’s career to date, and the twenty-two year old Aussie can look forward to an ATP quarter-final against Kei Nishikori.
(3) Kei Nishikori defeats Jared Donaldson 46 64 63. The Japanese star had to overcome an inspired Jared Donaldson to edge his way into the quarter-finals. The first set was an inconsistent affair, featuring five breaks, three for the American, two for Nishikori.
Both men were more consistent in the second, and unsurprisingly, that resulted in a better outcome for Nishikori, breaking Donaldson twice and surrendering one break himself. The third set was even close featuring just the single break. Again it went to Nishikori and though Donaldson rallied to force a break point Nishikori saved it to progress to the quarter-finals.
Kyle Edmund defeats (6)Lucas Pouille 63 31 retired. A surprise win for the Brit, though he was aided by an injury to his French opponent.
It remains to be seen if the injury will have any bearing on Pouille’s ability to compete in the upcoming Australian Open.
Pouille with foot/ankle injury? pic.twitter.com/JqmQFpbRBp
— Break Point (@BreakPointBR) January 4, 2017
(2) Stan Wawrinka defeats Viktor Troicki 76 64. The US Open Champion got off to an assured start in the second round of the Brisbane International. After receiving a bye in the first round, Wawrinka lost his serve once in a straight sets win over Troicki, his seventh in seven meetings with the Serbian. Wawrinka will now meet Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals.
