Thiem, Tomic and Dimitrov Avoid Trouble

Thiem, Tomic and Dimitrov Avoid Trouble

The other three seeds in action on Wednesday were able to advance. Fourth seed Dominic Thiem had a battle on his hands with Dmitry Tursunov. The Russian took an early break lead in the first set, but Thiem fought back to get on serve and force a tiebreak. The Austrian would fall behind a set though as the Russian took the break 7-5. Thiem settled in quickly in the second as his serve was solid, allowing him to find an opening where be would break the Russian at-love in game six. Thiem would roar back to take the second 6-3 and close the match 6-4 in the third set. The fourth seed's first serve was a huge weapon in securing the win as he won 42 of 52 points.
Fifth seed Bernard Tomic found himself down early to Adrian Mannarino in second round action. The Aussie would bounce back from an early break though as he won six of the last eight games in the opening set. Tomic would be in control from there for a 6-4, 6-4 win. Grigor Dimitrov struggled early in his match against Donald Young, but was able to save six out of six break points in the opening set.
That left him waiting for an opportunity, which he found in the 8th game, to break Young to take a 5-3 lead. Dimitrov would close out the set in the next game 6-3. The second set would see the two exchange breaks within the first four games. Dimitrov would add a second break in game five that provided him with the decisive margin to work his way into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Fritz Leads Other Winners

Among the other three winners on the day, American Taylor Fritz continued to stand out. The 18-year-old qualifier flew past Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-3. Fritz won 58 percent of the points off of the Dominican's serve, breaking him five times. Fellow American Ryan Harrison blew a golden opportunity to get to an ATP 500 level quarterfinal. Harrison was up a break in the third, but could not finish the job as Illya Marchenko rallied to win 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5). Robin Haase also advanced to the quarterfinals in a three set grinder against Aljaz Bedene. The Dutchman prevailed in a tight match 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4. 

Thursday's Quarterfinals

Play is scheduled to begin with 5th seed Bernard Tomic taking on Illya Marchenko in the first quarterfinal. The most anticipated match will be third up on Cancha Central with 4th seed Dominic Thiem and 7th seed Grigor Dimitrov going head-to-head for the first time. The night finishes with an All-American match pitting Taylor Fritz against Sam Querrey. 

Source: ATP Mexico Open