Bhambri stuns Monfils in D.C.

 

Originally published on 03/08/17 00:00

The 25-year-old, ranked No.200 in the world, secured just his fifth tour-level win of the year as he struck late in the third set to oust the charismatic Frenchman.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest wins of my career,” said the delighted Indian. “You play for moments like this. I tried to stay competitive and focused in all my service games. I hung in there at the end and just fought my way through – it gives me a lot of confidence for my next round.”

Alexander Zverev, with former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in his player-box for the first time, was pushed by Jordan Thompson but prevailed 4-6 6-3 7-6(5). Thompson – who stunned Andy Murray at the Aegon Championships – double-faulted when serving at 5-5 in the third set tiebreak and it proved to be a costly mistake.

After the match, the 20-year-old German said: “Thompson is obviously playing very well right now and he just played a Challenger final. He's had a lot of matches on the hard-courts already and I haven't played on hard-courts since Miami, so I'm happy to be through and get that win.”

No.4 seed, Grigor Dimitrov was pushed by Kyle Edmund but wrapped up a 7-5 4-6 6-3 victory in 2 hours and 21 minutes. The Bulgarian will play Daniil Medvedev in the third round. The Russian overcame last year’s semi-finalist, Steve Johnson, 3-6 6-4 7-6(1).

There was yet more injury woe for Nick Kyrgios. The Australian retired with a shoulder issue in his second round match with Tennys Sandgren. The American was leading 6-3 3-0 when play came to an abrupt end.

Elsewhere on the grounds, Kevin Anderson downed Malek Jaziri 6-4 6-1 and Marcos Baghdatis overcame Ryan Harrison by the same scoreline.

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