By Tennis Now | Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Guido Pella rallied past second-seeded Sam Querrey, 2-6 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), to set up a Houston quarterfinal vs. Tennys Sandgren.
Photo credit: U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship
Guido Pella played Davis Cup hero over the weekend and Houston spoiler today.
Sam Querrey served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Pella responded with his lone break of the day rallying for a 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) comeback victory on the red clay of River Oaks.
Watch: Kyrgios on Happiness, Tweener Secret
The Argentine left-hander advanced to his third quarterfinal of the season where he will play Tennys Sandgren.
The No. 8-seeded Sandgren hit 13 aces in a 6-2, 7-6 (3) triumph over 25-year-old Argentine Nicolas Kicker.
Two-time Houston finalist Querrey commanded much of the first set-and-a-half today, but tightened up serving for a quarterfinal.
The American No. 2 saved seven of eight break points, but was his own worst enemy at times. Querrey committed 56 errors and served just 48 percent.
Third-set tie breaks have been doom and gloom experiences for Querrey.
Five of Querrey's eight losses this season have come in third-set tie breaks—to Jiri Vesely in Auckland, Kevin Anderson in New York, Taylor Fritz in Delray Beach, Matthew Ebden in Acapulco and Pella today.
The 63rd-ranked Pella scored a crucial Davis Cup win for Argentina over the weekend and mixed his spins and angles to coax Querrey into implosion in the third-set breaker.
Scoring an immediate mini-break, Pella pushed a soft backhand drop shot that froze the American in his tracks for 4-1. Querrey clipped his ninth double fault off the tape to fall behind 1-5.
"I was comfortable on court; I said just keep fighting, just keep running," Pella told Tennis Channel's Justin Gimelstob afterward. "It's not easy, but I think the best part is we play best-of-three sets not five so it was not so long.
"It was not easy, but it was a good match for me. I'm happy because I won that match. Everything is good when you win."
Pella closed on his first match point.
No. 4-seeded Nick Kyrgios cracked 21 aces and erased both break points he faced powering past Bjorn Fratangelo, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2, in 92 minutes in his River Oaks debut.
Kyrgios will face Ivo Karlovic in a clash of scary servers with a semifinal spot on the line.
The 24th-ranked Aussie has won all four of his prior meetings with Karlovic, who swept American qualifier Denis Kudla, 7-5, 7-5.