Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Defending champion Querrey ousted in Acapulco

   Sam Querrey suffered another heartbreaking loss today, this time as the defending champion.
   In a battle of 30-year-olds, Matthew Ebden of Australia ousted the seventh-seeded Querrey 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.
   Querrey lost in a third-set tiebreaker for the third consecutive match. The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) San Francisco native fell to 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the final of the inaugural New York Open in Uniondale, N.Y., two weeks ago and to 20-year-old American Taylor Fritz in the opening round at Delray Beach last week.
   Meanwhile, Ebden upset a tall American for the second time this year. He eliminated 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, seeded 16th, in the first round of the Australian Open last month before losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine.
   Ebden, ranked 87th, improved to 1-2 against Querrey, ranked a career-high 11th. They met for the first time since Querrey prevailed 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1) on grass in the first round at Newport, R.I., in 2015.
   Ebden, the runner-up in the 2013 Napa and Tiburon Challengers, will face 21-year-old American Jared Donaldson, the runner-up to Fritz in the 2015 Sacramento Challenger, on Wednesday. Donaldson defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-2, 3-2, retired.
   Rafael Nadal, a two-time Acapulco champion (2005 and 2013) and last year's runner-up, withdrew with a right hip injury. The 31-year-old Spaniard retired from his Australian Open quarterfinal against Marin Cilic with a similar problem.
   In the opening round of the Acapulco women's draw, top-seeded Sloane Stephens beat Pauline Parmentier of France 6-0, 6-4. Stephens, a 24-year-old Fresno product, had lost eight straight matches since winning the U.S. Open last September for her first Grand Slam title.
   Stephens will play Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 winner over 18-year-old U.S. wild card Kayla Day, on Wednesday.

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