It was Day Three at the inaugural Garanti Koza Sofia Open, with three seeded players in singles action. In the doubles, there were plenty of surprising results, as three of the top four seeds departed, including the top seeds Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya.

Berankis Grinds Out The Win Over Local Favourite Kuzmanov

The last remaining Bulgarian player exited his home event today, as Ricardas Berankis proved too strong for Dimitar Kuzmanov in a three-set battle.

The match started with four consecutive holds of serve, with the Lithuanian creating several break point opportunities leading to a break in the fifth game. Kuzmanov was struggling to create any real momentum, serving at just forty-two percent and facing break point in every service game. Berankis took the first set 6-3 but was immediately broken in the second, with the tide dramatically seemingly changing.

His serve was then broken again, to allow the Bulgarian to level the match up with a 6-2 set. With Kuzmanov appearing to be settled within the match, it was a surprise to see his serve broken, allowing Berankis to have the chance to serve the match out. After wasting a break point opportunity in the previous return game, three more chances were granted for Kuzmanov, but he failed to take advantage of any, and lost the match 3-6, 6-2, 3-6.

It was a missed opportunity for Kuzmanov, who was playing his first-ever ATP main draw match, but the experience of the occasion should inspire him to break into the top 200. As for Berankis, he will face the daunting task of overcoming the Gilles Muller serve.

Klizan Levels Up His Head-To-Head With Rosol

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Martin Klizan remained in defiant mood throughout, to reach the quarter-finals - Source: SofiaOpen.bg

Coming into their second round clash today Lukas Rosol held a 1-0 head-to-head record against Martin Klizan, but the Slovakian leveled it up after clinching the win in a final set tie-breaker.

It was Klizan who started the better of the pair, breaking in his very first return game and saving a break point when serving for the set, allowing him to successfully clinch the opener. Rosol replied by breaking twice to force a decider, also not allowing any sniffs of a return break. When the Czech got the break in the third, the match appeared over, but he failed to secure victory, and fell 4-7 in the final tie-breaker.

Both players served at over seventy percent, but it was Klizan who held his nerve more effectively when the time came, to move into the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere…

Another tiebreaker occurred in Daniel Brands’ win over Italian Thomas Fabbiano, with the big-serving German delivering 16 aces, along with 11 double-faults in his straight sets performance. Third-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez cruised past Mirza Basic in straight sets, winning eighty-four percent on his first serve, despite only managing to get forty-one percent of the opening serves in. The straight-sets theme was initially started by Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Evgeny Donskoy 6-2. 7-5 in the opening match match of the day.

The doubles draw started to take shape, after three of the top four seeds were defeated. The top seeds Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya were routinely despatched by Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Rosol, who earned one victory after the defeat to Klizan.

Ahead of his opening-singles match, Viktor Troicki starred in the doubles team that defeated second seeds Marin Draganja and Julian Knowle, along with Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia.

Day Four Preview

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Roberta Bautista-Agut will look to continue his strong early-season form - Source: Zimbio - Scott Barbour

The action starts to heat-up in Sofia tomorrow, with a seeded player participating within each singles contest on Day Four. Fourth-seeded Andreas Seppi opens up the play on Centre Court, before Troicki making his entrance on the singles stage. Top seed Roberta Bautista Agut and fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber round off the singles action on the main court. The last remaining seeds in the doubles draw open up proceedings on Court One, with Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop hoping to not suffer the same fate as the other top pairings today.

Day Four Order Of Play

Centre Court – 12:00pm

Thiemo de Bakker - Andreas Seppi (4)

Daniel Brands - Viktor Troicki (2)

NOT BEFORE - 3:30pm

(1)Roberta Bautista Agut – Filip Krajinovic

NOT BEFORE - 6:00pm

(5) Philipp Kohlschreiber – Damir Dzumhur

NOT BEFORE – 8:00pm

Tuna Altuna / Konstantin KravchukPhilipp Oswald / Adil Shamasdin

Court One – 12:00pm

Lukas Dlouhy / Sergiy Stakhovsky – Wesley Koolhof / Matwe Middelkoop (3)

Marius Copil – Adrian Mannarino (8)

NOT BEFORE – 3:30pm

Ricardas Berankis – Gilles Muller (6)

Thiemo de Bakker / Robin Haase – Ilija Bozoljac / Viktor Troicki

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About the author
James Froud
Recent graduate with a strong interest in sports journalism. Huge sports fan, with strong passions in Football, Rugby and Tennis.