By Kieran Jackson | Friday, June 9, 2017
Dustin Brown stayed on course.
Photo credit: Aegon Surbiton Trophy Facebook
Day two of main draw action at the Aegon Surbiton Trophy saw the completion of the first two rounds of the men’s singles, as well as the squeezing in of the 2nd round of the women’s singles.
Early first-round shocks included young Brit Cameron Norrie with the biggest win of his career, beating Malek Jaziri, who is ranked 71st in the world.
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Norrie has just turned his attention to professional tennis following a stint at Texas Christian University, where he thrived as part of the tennis roster, and now hopes to be granted a wildcard for The Championships at Wimbledon in a couple of weeks’ time.
Former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis also failed to progress beyond the first round, following a straight sets loss to Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4, 7-6 (4). Interestingly, the pair were doubles partners this week.
More straightforward progress was made to round two by Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, German Dustin Brown and top seed Dan Evans, who beat compatriot James Ward comfortably in straight sets.
However, young American talents Stefan Kozlov and Taylor Fritz both lost in three sets against Akira Santillan and Andrew Whittington respectively.
Later on in the day, half of the second-round matches were able to be completed before bad light stopped play, with Brown winning 7-5 in the third against Yuki Bhambri of India, and Stakhovsky bringing an end to Norrie’s excellent run of form, beating him 6-4, 7-6 (2). Australian Jordan Thompson also made the quarterfinals, beating both Denis Shapovalov and Tobias Kamke impressively in straight sets.
In the women’s draw, four Brits have made it to the quarterfinals.
Naomi Broady won a thriller on centre court in just under three hours against Tereza Martincova, coming through 5-7, 7-6 (9), 7-6 (4).
Heather Watson and Katy Dunne, who’s ranked 318 in the world, will face off in the quarters after both came through their second-round matches in three and two sets respectively, and wild card Harriet Dart beat Julia Boserup’s first round conqueror Lizette Cabrera 6-3, 7-5.
The other quarterfinalists are number one seed Oceane Dodin of France, Evgeniya Rodina of Russia and Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, and they will hope to play their quarterfinals on Friday, if the infamous variable British weather holds up.
Speaking of which, the weather on Friday is somewhat hazy, with rain expected in the morning before a bright and hopefully prolonged sunny spell in the afternoon. Conditions throughout the week have been tough for the players; heavy wind has forced all players to adapt drastically.
On the other hand though, it has made the matches and results extremely unpredictable and exciting for onlookers.
Freelance journalist Kieran Jackson is covering the British grass court summer in the lead up to Wimbledon for Tennis Now.