A STRONG South American presence will feature in the Argentina Open quarter finals, while in New York, it was a mixed bag of upsets and seeded winners.

ARGENTINA OPEN – BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA:

All four winners of the Argentina Open were South American, as the top two seeds moved through to the quarter finals, joined by a compatriot and a Uruguay veteran who downed higher ranked opponents. Pablo Cuevas had to work his way to a win via a three-set victory over seventh seed, Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-4 4-6 6-4 to reach the final eight. Likewise, Juan Ignacio Londero also had to win in three sets, coming from a tiebreaker down against sixth seed Serbian, Laslo Djere to win 6-7 6-2 6-1 in two hours of court time. His last two sets were simply sensational to move through to the quarter finals.

In the match of the day, second seed Argentinian, Guido Pella had to overcome a determined Facundo Bagnis 7-6 6-7 6-4 in three hours and 12 minutes. Pella served up nine aces and recorded a 67 per cent serving efficiency in the match. It was slightly less than his opponent, but he capitalised on his first serve, claiming 70 per cent of the points. Bagnis won 62 per cent off his second serve – a higher ratio than his first – and also converted two breaks – but it was the extra break from Pella in the third set that was ultimately the difference in the match. All up just five points separated the duo, with Pella marginally ahead thanks to his greater serving consistency. Pella now faces Londero, while Cuevas takes on Diego Schwartzman – who knocked over compatriot, Federico Delbonis in the Round of 16 – in the other quarter final.

Round of 16 Results:

[1] D. Schwartzman (ARG) defeated F. Delbonis (ARG) 6-3 4-6 6-2
[2] G. Pella (ARG) defeated [Q] F. Bagnis (ARG) 7-6 6-7 6-4
J. Londero (ARG) defeated [6] L. Djere (SRB) 6-7 6-2 6-1
P. Cuevas (URU) defeated [7] A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-4 4-6 6-4

NEW YORK OPEN – NEW YORK, UNITED STATES:

Australian Jordan Thompson has caused a boilover in New York with a huge three-set victory over number one seed and tournament favourite, John Isner. Thompson won 7-6 6-7 6-3, surviving a number of break point opportunities from Isner to win the match in two and a half hours. Isner served up 22 aces to Thompson’s two, but only won 55 per cent of his second serve points compared to the Australian’s 68 per cent. He was also broken once – in the second game of the deciding set – and while he pushed hard to break back in the fifth game, could not break through from five opportunities. Instead, Thompson booked a spot in the quarter finals against Italian, Andreas Seppi.

In earlier results, third seed Reilly Opelka booked a spot in the quarter finals with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan. In an identical scoreline but a rather large upset, Chinese Taipei qualifier, Jason Jung toppled seventh seed Brit, Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4. It was a better day for Norrie’s compatriot, Kyle Edmund who won 6-2 6-4 against German, Dominik Koepfer 6-2 6-4.

Round of 16 Results:

J. Thompson (AUS) defeated [1] J. Isner (USA) 7-6 6-7 6-3
[3] R. Opelka (USA) defeated Y. Nishioka (JPN) 6-4 6-4
[Q] J. Jung (TAI) defeated [7] C. Norrie (GBR) 6-4 6-4
[8] K. Edmund (GBR) defeated D. Koepfer (GER) 6-2 6-4