Dubai: Fourth seed Damir Dzumhur became the second major casualty as Lucas Pouille and Roberto Bautista-Agut — seeded No. 2 and 3 — secured identical three-set wins on the third day of action at the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open during Wednesday’s early session.
The tournament had lost top seed and tournament favourite Grigor Dimitrov after the world No. 4 from Bulgaria went down in three sets to Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri late on Tuesday. With none of the big four of tennis – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — Dmitirov was seen as the star needed to light up the event.
However, the Bulgarian failed to advance on Tuesday night before a crowd of boisterous supporters and was joined by fourth seeded Dzumhur, who fell rather easily 1-6, 1-6 in under one hour to Russian Evgeny Donskoy on the side court.
But among the top four seeds still holding fort were No. 2 Pouille — a losing finalist in Marseille last Sunday — and third seed Bautista-Agut.
Pouille bested Karen Khachanov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in exactly 100 minutes in a rematch of last Sunday’s final in Marseille, after Bautista-Agut had got past Frenchman Pierre-Hughes Herbert 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 earlier in the day.
Also advancing to the scene of his famed 2015 exploits was youngster Borna Coric with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Frenchman Benoit Paire, while eighth-seeded Yuichi Sugita defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6, 6-4 to ease into the last eight of the men’s singles.
Pouille, who has had a flying start to 2018 while making two finals so far, was aware of the perils of playing the same opponent twice within four days. After winning in Montpellier in the first half of February, the 24-year-old Frenchman fell in the final against Khachanov last Sunday in Marseille.
“I knew it would be a tough one. In the final in Marseille, he [Khachanov] won just three points more than me. I knew it was very close. I had to play some good tennis. In think we were both a little bit tired, but I’m just very happy that I got my revenge today,” Pouille said.
The Frenchman did well here last year while reaching the semi-final before falling to eventual champion Andy Murray. “Well, I think in the third set, I put more returns in the court and I was a bit more opportunistic than him. I think that made the difference today,” Pouille explained as he prepared to face eighth seed Sugita.
With two wins in a couple of days, Pouille asserted he was feeling quite at home in Dubai. “As long as you win, you get some confidence. It’s better this way. I prefer to win a lot of matches, play a lot, than playing once a week,” Pouille said.
“I’m starting to feel better here and hopefully tomorrow, I can be 100 per cent. But I know it’s going to be difficult. I’ve every reason to be happy with this month of February so far,” he added.
RESULTS
(Singles)
Roberto Bautista Agut bt Pierre-Hughes Herbert 6-4, 6-7, 6-1; Borna Coric bt Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-4; Yuichi Sugita bt Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6, 6-4; Lucas Pouille bt Karen Khachanov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Evgeny Donskoy bt Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-1.
Playing later
Marcos Baghdatis vs Filip Krajinovic; Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Philipp Kohlschreiber.
