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Chung overcomes Lopez in Montreal


 

Originally published on 08/08/17 00:00

The promising 21-year-old convincingly claimed the opener but his veteran opponent responded in the second set. The decider was serve-dominated however it was the youngster who prevailed in an error-strewn tiebreak to prolong his stay in Canada.

In the first set, Lopez made just 45 per cent of first serves and his usually reliable forehand was a liability. Chung was the gleeful recipient of his rival’s unusual mistakes and he pocketed the opener by six games to one.

The Spaniard improved considerably in the second set and he was more vocal and energised. The pair exchanged breaks and were locked at 4-4 before Chung coughed up a rare double-fault to hand the initiative to his higher ranked opponent.

Lopez had a chance to force a decider and he was not going to let the opportunity slip by. The 35-year-old cracked a forehand winner down the line to take the match the distance – much to the delight of the small band of spectators on the Banque Nationale Court.

There was not a single break-point on offer in the third set and it was no surprise when a tiebreak was called into action. The shootout was low on quality as both players failed to produce their best, but it was Chung who ultimately did enough to progress.

Elsewhere on day 2 in Montreal, Borna Coric impressed as he overcame Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 6-4 in 68 minutes, Paolo Lorenzi earned a shot at Nick Kyrgios with a 7-6(3) 0-6 6-2 success over Frances Tiafoe and Ernesto Escobedo took out Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6(4) 6-4.

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.