Adrian Mannarino and Sam Querrey battled it out in the first semifinal of the New York Open for a spot in the final. The Frenchman led the head-to-head 3-0, but the American could not have picked a better time for a first victory should he have taken the match. Querrey battled back to win 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3 for a spot in the final.
Mannarino Takes Opening Set Tiebreak
With Querrey first to serve, he was struggling to find his first serve, going down 15-40. All of a sudden, a couple of aces gets him out of the hole as he held to open the proceedings. After that, neither player struggled on serve until the seventh game.
The seventh game saw Mannarino get two more break point opportunities after an errant shot from Querrey. The American dumped a volley into the net to give the break to the fourth seed. A frustrated Querrey smacked the ball into the crowd and slammed his racquet as he was given a warning.
The eighth game saw Querrey try to fight right back though. An entertaining point between the two saw the American lob the Frenchman who then attempted a tweener. Though it was a successful tweener, an easy putaway volley gave Querrey the point. The second-seeded American broke right back after a missed lob.
Down 4-5, Mannarino was facing break and set point. A winner got him out of hole but was frustrated with himself as he could not close out the game until much later on. Both men held easily once again to force a tiebreak.
It was Mannarino who struck first in the opening tiebreak after a mishit overhead from the American. Despite Querrey's ability to get the mini-break back, he was unable to string together points to put him ahead, always playing from behind. A long rally went the Frenchman's way as he captured the opening set breaker 7-5.
Servers Dominate Set Two
After a long opening set, neither player was allowing a look in on their own serve. Only two of the first 10 service games went to at least 30. In the 11th game though, it was Querrey who pounced on the opportunity. The American had two break points and took his second opportunity after winning a long rally. He closed out the second set at 15 to force a deciding set.
Querrey Breaks Twice To Take Decider
Like the second set, Mannarino opened the final set as the server. He breezed to hold at 15 and then love but still could not make any inroads on the Querrey serve like he did in the opening set.
The Frenchman found himself with a slight opening up 3-2 and 15-40 on the Querrey serve. The American fought both of them off with a forehand winner and powerful serve up the tee. Querrey fended off a third break point with an ace as he closed out the game for three-all.
A frustrated Mannarino took to serve but knew those missed chances could come back to haunt him. An errant backhand put him down 0-30 and lucked out that Querrey's flick forehand at the net just missed the line as it went to 15-30 rather than 0-40.
