Yuki Bhambri reached the quarter-finals of the Citi Open in Washington with a three-sets win over Argentina’s Guido Pella on Thursday. The Indian No 2 won 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and nine minutes.
Both players traded breaks in the opening set, before Pella won the set after winning the tie-break 7-5. Bolstered by his first-set-winning momentum, the Argentine also took an early command over the Indian by breaking his serve in the second game to go up 2-0. Unfazed by this onslaught of his opponent, it was then that Bhambri brought about a turnaround in the match.
Bhambri first broke back the 100th-ranked player’s serve in the fourth game of the set to level the score at two-all. A second break of Pella’s serve in the sixth game then had Bhambri take the lead in the set for the first time by going up 4-2. The set did remain on serve thereafter, but the damage was done for Pella as the world No 200 served out the set to enforce the decider.
The final set was dominated entirely by Bhambri, who broke Pella in the opening service game before consolidating the break to go up 2-0. A second service break and a quick consolidation had the world No 200 race away to a 4-0 lead. The Argentinian won his only service game in the fifth game of the set, but couldn’t save any of the three match points he had on his serve in the seventh game. It allowed Bhambri to back himself up after his upset win over sixth seed Gael Monfils in the second round on Wednesday.
In the quarter-finals, Bhambri will play 15th seeded Kevin Anderson, who upset the top seed Dominic Thiem in their third-round match-up. The South African won 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(7).
Doubles teams advance
The top-seeded Indo-Romanian team of Sania Mirza and Monica Niculescu reached the women’s doubles semi-final at the Citi Open in Washington on Thursday. Mirza and Niculescu won their opening round, which was also the quarter-final in the tournament, against the American team of Jamie Loebb and Ashley Weinhold in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Divij Sharan and Purav Raja reached the men’s doubles semi-final in Los Cabos on Thursday. The fourth-seeded pair, who are defending their title in the event, came through against the unseeded Dutch-Kiwi pairing of Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
Lastly, the Indo-Slovenian duo of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Blaz Kavcic were ousted in their quarter-final match that was played on Thursday as well. The second-seeded team of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Treat Huey defeated Nedunchezhiyan and Kavcic in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. Cabal and Huey will now play Sharan and Raja for a place in the final.