2019 champion Bautista Agut was barely troubled as the Spaniard cruised past two-time Qatar winner Andy Murray
Top seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada Wednesday crushed Alex Moclan of Slovakia in straight sets while former champion Roberta Bautista Agut of Spain hammered Andy Murray to reach the quarter-finals at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.
Shapovalov, ranked number 12, Wednesday won 6-4, 6-0 in less than an hour’s time on the Centre Court at Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex. The powerful lefty – who served seven aces – has now improved to 8-3 for the season that includes a quarter-finals loss against Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal last month.
Also Wednesday, 2019 champion Bautista Agut was barely troubled as the Spaniard cruised past two-time Qatar winner Murray in straight sets on Centre Court. Bautista Agut, who lost year’s final to Croatia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, won 6-0, 6-1 in 68 minutes.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals at the $1.2mn tournament were Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics – who beat Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 – and Alejandro Davidovic Fokina of Spain. Fonika, who cracked 13 aces, beat Great Britain’s Daniel Evans 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a two hour 53-minute marathon. In a shock result, Arthur Rinderknech of France upset seventh seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in three feisty sets. Rinderknech won 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 in 2 hours and 6 minutes despite fast-serving Bublik pounding 15 aces.
Defending champion Basilashvili also signed in for the last-eight of the tournament as he beat Elias Ymer of Sweden 6-4, 7-5 in 2 hours and 3 minutes. Former US Open champion and fourth seed
Marin Cilic of Croatia, meanwhile, ended the dream run of Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp with a 6-3, 7-5 win in 1 hour 43 minutes.
In the day’s final clash on Centre Court, sixth seed Karen Khachanov of Russia eased past Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori in straight sets. Twenty-five year-old Khachanov, who fired 6 aces, won 7-6 (4), 6-3 in 1 hour and 32 minutes to go 2-0 over his Finnish opponent in head-to-head meetings.
The day, however, belonged to second seed Bautista Agut who looked peerless in his straight-set demolition of Murray, the losing finalist in Doha in 2007 and 2017. It was the second heaviest defeat for the Briton who had lost to Roger Federer with a similar scoreline in London in 2014.
“It’s never easy to win a match. It’s never easy to beat Andy. He’s a great player,” Bautista Agut said modestly. “I feel well after winning my first match here. I love playing in Qatar, I love playing in this court. I have played some of my best tennis on this court,” he added. “I am really happy to be in the quarter-finals and I am looking forward to playing here again,” he added.
“We are doing well. We are working really hard. Ours is a really good team and my wife is also here. We are trying our best. And it (the good results) show on the court,” Bautista Agut said when asked about his rotating coaches Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Tomas Carbonell.
“As I said I am feeling well, I enjoyed playing here tonight. I hope I can play on this court more. One of my motivations is to play like this. I love playing here. I (have) played really good matches here. I have faced good opponents. I hope I can play another good week of tennis here,” he said.
Bautista Agut, who plays Fokina in the quarter-finals today, improved to 10-2 at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The 33-year-old Davis Cup winner broke a sluggish Murray in game two when the three-time Grand Slam winner was guilty of two long returns. A similar pattern ensued in game four when Murray struggled with unforced errors to see Bautista Agut go 4-0 up in the first set. With momentum on his side, the Bautsita Agut sealed the first set with another service break against the Briton in game six.
Bautista Agut, who now trails 2-3 against Murray in head-to-head, broke the 2008 and 2009 champion in games four and six to complete his dominance over the faltering Briton. A long return by Murray on match – point summed up his poor show in front of a crowd that included Colombian football star James Rodrigues who plays for Al Rayyan in Qatar.
Shapovalov, ranked number 12, Wednesday won 6-4, 6-0 in less than an hour’s time on the Centre Court at Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex. The powerful lefty – who served seven aces – has now improved to 8-3 for the season that includes a quarter-finals loss against Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal last month.
Also Wednesday, 2019 champion Bautista Agut was barely troubled as the Spaniard cruised past two-time Qatar winner Murray in straight sets on Centre Court. Bautista Agut, who lost year’s final to Croatia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, won 6-0, 6-1 in 68 minutes.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals at the $1.2mn tournament were Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics – who beat Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 – and Alejandro Davidovic Fokina of Spain. Fonika, who cracked 13 aces, beat Great Britain’s Daniel Evans 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a two hour 53-minute marathon. In a shock result, Arthur Rinderknech of France upset seventh seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in three feisty sets. Rinderknech won 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 in 2 hours and 6 minutes despite fast-serving Bublik pounding 15 aces.
Defending champion Basilashvili also signed in for the last-eight of the tournament as he beat Elias Ymer of Sweden 6-4, 7-5 in 2 hours and 3 minutes. Former US Open champion and fourth seed
Marin Cilic of Croatia, meanwhile, ended the dream run of Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp with a 6-3, 7-5 win in 1 hour 43 minutes.
In the day’s final clash on Centre Court, sixth seed Karen Khachanov of Russia eased past Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori in straight sets. Twenty-five year-old Khachanov, who fired 6 aces, won 7-6 (4), 6-3 in 1 hour and 32 minutes to go 2-0 over his Finnish opponent in head-to-head meetings.
The day, however, belonged to second seed Bautista Agut who looked peerless in his straight-set demolition of Murray, the losing finalist in Doha in 2007 and 2017. It was the second heaviest defeat for the Briton who had lost to Roger Federer with a similar scoreline in London in 2014.
“It’s never easy to win a match. It’s never easy to beat Andy. He’s a great player,” Bautista Agut said modestly. “I feel well after winning my first match here. I love playing in Qatar, I love playing in this court. I have played some of my best tennis on this court,” he added. “I am really happy to be in the quarter-finals and I am looking forward to playing here again,” he added.
“We are doing well. We are working really hard. Ours is a really good team and my wife is also here. We are trying our best. And it (the good results) show on the court,” Bautista Agut said when asked about his rotating coaches Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Tomas Carbonell.
“As I said I am feeling well, I enjoyed playing here tonight. I hope I can play on this court more. One of my motivations is to play like this. I love playing here. I (have) played really good matches here. I have faced good opponents. I hope I can play another good week of tennis here,” he said.
Bautista Agut, who plays Fokina in the quarter-finals today, improved to 10-2 at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The 33-year-old Davis Cup winner broke a sluggish Murray in game two when the three-time Grand Slam winner was guilty of two long returns. A similar pattern ensued in game four when Murray struggled with unforced errors to see Bautista Agut go 4-0 up in the first set. With momentum on his side, the Bautsita Agut sealed the first set with another service break against the Briton in game six.
Bautista Agut, who now trails 2-3 against Murray in head-to-head, broke the 2008 and 2009 champion in games four and six to complete his dominance over the faltering Briton. A long return by Murray on match – point summed up his poor show in front of a crowd that included Colombian football star James Rodrigues who plays for Al Rayyan in Qatar.
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