Federer’s conqueror headlines Ilkley event
CAMERON NORRIE prolonged his French Open adventure by another day at least after pinching a set in the Paris gloom.
The British No 3 looked in danger of being swept aside in the second round by French 16th seed Lucas Pouille.
Norrie trailed by two sets with Pouille looking as though he desperately wanted the match done and dusted before the light failed – the players had only walked on to Court Philippe Chatrier at 7.50pm.
But perhaps in his haste to get the job done Pouille began to tighten. And Norrie broke in the final game of the third set to trail 2-6 4-6 6-4 when they were brought off in near darkness at 9.43pm.
Novak Djokovic set up a thirdround meeting with 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut after a 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 6-4 victory over another Spaniard, Jaume Munar.
Second seed Alexander Zverev, along with Djokovic viewed as one of the few genuine obstacles to Rafael Nadal collecting an 11th title over the next fortnight, was almost packing his bags.
The 21-year-old German was trailing 2-1, and playing dreadfully, against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic but came back to win 2-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 6-2.
Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov was also taken the distance by American Jared Donaldson, before winning 10-8 in the fifth.
Tomas Berdych, the 17th seed, was a first-round casualty after he was beaten by France’s Jeremy Chardy in five sets.
Meanwhile, Marco Trungelliti’s epic journey came to an end in the second round.
The Argentinian became the unlikely darling of Roland Garros after driving for 10 hours from Barcelona to Paris, with his brother, mother and gran, on Sunday in order to register in time as a lucky loser.
Trungelliti, the world No 190, then stunned the tennis world by beating former top-20 player Bernard Tomic to net himself £69,000 in prize money.
However, the 28-year-old hit the skids in round two as he was beaten 6-1 7-6 (7/1) 6-1 by Italian Marco Cecchinato.
Top women’s seed Simona Halep lost the first set to American Alison Riske, but then dropped just two more games in registering a 2-6 6-1 6-1 victory.
In the second round, fourth seed Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, breezed past Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova 6-3 6-4. A PLAYER who once toppled Roger Federer on the Wimbledon grass is among the entries for the Fuzion 100 Ilkley Trophy next month.
Sergiy Stakhovsky caused a huge shock at SW19 in 2013 when he knocked the Swiss out of the tournament in the second round.
Now the world No 127 will join British No 5 Liam Broady in the Ilkley Trophy line-up from June 16-25.
The ATP Challenger tournament is a Wimbledon warm-up event that attracts players ranked in the world’s top 150 to the grass courts of Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club.
The highest-ranked player in the men’s field this year is Australian world No 91 Jordan Thompson, whose career high ranking is 63.
The women’s entry list has yet to be announced.
The winner will take home a cheque for $150,000 and a coveted wild card for the Wimbledon main draw.
Broady, from Stockport, played at Ilkley in 2015 and 2016. After his first visit he went on to reach the Wimbledon second round.
Another Australian, James Duckworth, has entered while on the comeback trail from a foot injury which saw him drop out of the top 100.
Ilkley club manager Charlie Maunder said: “We know that our courts and facilities are a major attraction for players with many choosing to return to compete here whenever they can. We invest year-round in maintaining our facilities to ensure they are ready for an international tournament of this scale. We have increased the seating capacity this year because the tournament attracts more spectators every year.”
The women’s draw will be announced on Friday.
Tickets are on sale from www. theticketfactory.com/ltaci/online