VIENNA, October 25, 2017
With Alexander Zverev and Philipp Kohlschreiber two German players advanced to the quarterfinals of the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna on Wednesday.
Zverev, the top seed of the ATP 500-event, defeated Gilles Simon of France 7-6, 6-4. The World No. 5 was a break down in each set but fought his way back, breaking serve of his own five times. Zverev converted his first match point after two hours and 20 minutes.
Kohlschreiber, a three-time Vienna finalist, edged past French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6, 6-3. The 34-year-old from Augsburg sent down two aces, winning 82 per cent of his first service points to improve to 3-1 in his Head-to-Head series against Herbert after one hour and 34 minutes.
2016 Vienna finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, opened his title bid with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 first round win over Russia’s #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov. The eighth seed from France won 52 per cent of the total points played to finish the encounter in two hours and 11 minutes.
Tsonga, who is currently in 15th place in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 2,055 points, 595 points behind Pablo Carreno Busta, who currently holds the last qualification spot for the Nitto ATP Finals, will next take on Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
