Verdasco and Fish advance in New Haven

In a battle of two Americans from Florida, No. 8 seed Mardy Fish of Tampa defeated lucky loser Jesse Levine of Boca Raton, 6-3, 7-6(4) on Thursday at the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven. Despite only converting on one of fourteen break point chances, Fish made up for it by smashing twelve aces, while winning 89% of his first serve points. Levine struggled on return of serve as he only won four points when Fish made his first serve. Fish aims to reach his second straight Pilot Pen Tennis finals, but only top seeded Fernando Verdasco stands in his way.

The Madrid resident who is currently ranked No. 11 in the world defeated Mischa Zverev 6-4, 7-6(4), to advance to his fourth semifinal of the year. Verdasco was able to play through his early struggles with four doubles faults, as he went on to break Zverev on four occasions. The win marked the hard-hitting lefty’s fifth straight victory over a German. He discussed with reporters after his victory that he was pleased with his Thursday afternoon performance and looks forward to his next match against Fish.

“I think I played really good all the match and I happy how I feel and how I play. I think tomorrow the semis against Fish is going to be a hard match.”

One of the most astounding stories of the week comes from Slovenian qualifier Luka Gregorc who entered New Haven with only four career ATP level wins and roughly $63,000 in career earnings. The No. 434 ranked Gregorc now finds himself playing tomorrow for a spot in his maiden final after defeating No. 7 seed Andreas Seppi, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the quarterfinals. Gregorc hit nine double faults, but was able to convert on five of ten break point chances and smash 14 aces. Gregorc is guaranteed at least $29,000 for advancing to the semifinals, which is over triple of what he has earned so far this year. The qualifier faces No. 6 seed Marin Cilic who easily dispatched of No. 4 seed Igor Andreev, 6-3, 6-2 in the evening session match.