By Tennis Now | Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Sixth-seeded Fabio Fognini dissected Malek Jaziri, 7-5, 6-1, rolling into the Stockholm round of 16.
Photo credit: Intrum Stockholm Open
Seeds made strong starts in Stockholm.
Sixth-seeded Fabio Fognini dissected Malek Jaziri, 7-5, 6-1, rolling into a round of 16 meeting with either Leonardo Mayer or Swedish wild card Elias Ymer.
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Since he was bounced out of the US Open for a crude tirade directed toward chair umpire Louise Engzell, Fognini has reached the round of 16 in four consecutive tournaments, including St. Petersburg where he made the final falling to Damir Dzumhur last month.
“It was okay. It was first match it was difficult so I’m happy to be in the second round,” Fognini said.
Fernando Verdasco unleashed a strong serving performance dispatching Robin Haase for the fourth consecutive time, 6-3, 6-1.
Verdasco served 80 percent, won 27 of 28 first-serve points and did not face a break point dismissing Haase in just 46 minutes.
The eighth-seeded Spaniard moves into a round of 16 meeting with either qualifier Lukas Lacko or lucky loser Jurgen Zopp.
“I think that since the beginning of the match I felt pretty comfortable with a lot of confidence in my game,” Verdasco said. “I think that coming Wednesday here to Stockholm helped me to be more used to it, to the court, to the balls and everything. I’m very happy with my performance today and hopefully I will be able to maintain this level for a few days this week.”
Jeremy Chardy scored his second straight win over Alessandro Giannessi, 6-0, 7-5, backing up his straight-sets Shenzhen victory over the 27-year-old Italian.
The 30-year-old Chardy, who recently married, will face third-seeded Jack Sock next. Two-time Stockholm finalist Sock is seeking to snap a career-long five-match losing streak.