Top-seeded Ferrer rallies to beat Ramos-Vinolas in Vienna

By foxsports
Published

VIENNA (AP) Top-seeded David Ferrer overcame a slow start to beat fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Erste Bank Open on Tuesday.

The eighth-ranked Ferrer produced an unusual string of mistakes and scored just two points on Ramos-Vinolas' serve in the first set.

Ferrer, who won all four previous matches against his 58th-ranked countryman, turned around the match after saving four break points at 3-2 down in the second set and winning five straight games. He broke Ramos Vinolas again at 5-4 in the final set.

Ferrer next plays Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, who beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-4, 6-3.

Another seeded player, Dominic Thiem, did lose in the opening round. Jerzy Janowicz of Poland came back from a disappointing first set to defeat the fifth-seeded Austrian 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Earlier, Gael Monfils made a winning return from a seven-week injury layoff Tuesday, rallying to beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.

The 21st-ranked Frenchman played his first match since lower back problems forced him to pull out of the opening round at the U.S. Open.

Monfils, who is seeded sixth, lost the opening set from 5-3 up but used one break in both the following sets to wrap up the victory.

Monfils next plays Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who advanced after rallying to defeat Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4. Ram hit 16 aces but lost his serve four times.

Also, John Isner relied on his strong serve to beat French qualifier Kenny De Schepper 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).

The third-seeded American hit 16 aces and avoided break points, but failed to convert four chances on De Schepper's serve. Isner missed a match point at 6-5 but closed out the win on his second chance in the tiebreaker.

The 13th-ranked Isner will next play Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

Steve Johnson became the third American player to hit 16 aces Tuesday as he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, and Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine advanced by beating German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-4.