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Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel—Switzerland
No. 4 seed Marin Cilic progressed to the second round in Basel on Wednesday, defeating flat-hitting German Philipp Petzschner, 6-4, 6-4.
Cilic, who currently stands in the 12th position in the race to qualify for the Tour finale in London, could add another 45 points to his total if he defeats his next opponent Viktor Troicki.
Cilic's loose limb groundstrokes aided him in progressing past his unorthodox German opponent in one hour and 23 minutes.
Striking 14 aces, Cilic maintained his mettle in the tight serving duel which saw both men win over 80 percent of their first serve points (82 percent of Cilic, 81 percent for Petzschner).
Petzschner, who was unable to defend his Vienna title last week with a calf injury, was not to be outdone in the ace category, hitting 10 aces of his own.
After gaining the lone break of serve in the first set, Cilic continued his winning formula of hitting his groundstrokes off-the-rise and near to the lines in order to offset his No. 76-ranked opponent.
Cilic will take a 3-0 head-to-head lead over Troicki into Thursday's second-round clash. The pair recently met in Zagreb, Croatia earlier this year, a tournament which the Croatian won to claim his second title of the season.
Troicki ousted Benjamin Becker on Tuesday.
For Cilic, or any player vying for a prestigious top-eight spot in London, they must be within 1,000 points of No. 8 Fernando Verdasco by week's end.
Elsewhere, Jeremy Chardy upset No. 7 seed James Blake, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-4, in an up-and-down affair which lasted two hours and 16 minutes.
Blake, who has dropped to his lowest ranking since August of 2005, now sits at No. 41 in the world. The soon-to-be-30-year-old Yonkers native recently lost his semifinal points from the Paris Masters 1000 last year, which was played a week earlier.
Chardy, who is slowly being recognized as the future of French tennis, displayed his fantastic mix of retro and new age tennis in defeating his American opponent.
Sporting an early '90s short shorts look, Chardy took the opening set on the strength of eight aces and a crucial mini-break at 4-3 in the tiebreak.
Blake, who seemed upbeat after losing the opening set, stormed back in the second set by using his athleticism and down the line forehand to level the match at a set apiece.
Chardy obtained the lone break of the match in the ninth game of the final set, winning an extended baseline exchange by hitting an unreturnable backhand winner.
With the win, Chardy improved to 35-26 on the season, while Blake fell to 23-20 on the year.
The entertaining encounter, which posted 24 aces for Chardy and 14 aces for Blake, will now take the Frenchman to a second-round clash with Evgeny Korolev. Korolev defeated Simone Bolelli on Tuesday.
Frenchman Richard Gasquet won 72 percent of his total service points to defeat recent St. Petersburg finalist Horacio Zeballos, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Since returning to the Tour at the US Open, Gasquet has reached the semifinals in Metz, France and the quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Gasquet was tested by Zeballos' strong forehand and sneaky quick first serve throughout the one hour and 27 minute encounter.
After winning the first set in 45 minutes, Gasquet captured the lone break of the match in the ninth game of the second set.
Gasquet will next face either No. 3 seed Fernando Gonzalez or towering American John Isner.
The powerful duo will take the court later on Wednesday.
Remaining matches that are still to come on Day Three action in Basel will include:
Top seed Roger Federer taking a 5-0 head-to-head mark into his second round contest with Italian Andreas Seppi. Federer, who is the three-time defending champ of the event, is attempting to win the 62nd title of his career this week. Seppi, by contrast, has never won an ATP World Tour title.
Davis Cup finalist Radek Stepanek will be looking to advance to his seventh Tour-level quarterfinal on Wednesday, when he takes on lucky loser Florent Serra. Serra gained entry to the event when recent Vienna champ Jurgen Melzer withdrew.
Swiss hopeful Stan Wawrinka is presently battling tooth and nail with recent Lyon, France winner Ivan Ljubicic.
Ljubicic currently leads one set to love on the strength of hitting a service winner on his second set point in the tiebreak. The 55-minute first set was dominated by the cunning serving of Wawrinka, and the powerful placement of Ljubicic.
Ljubicic is attempting to win his sixth straight match on Tour, while Wawrinka will hope to improve on his 4-6 record at the event.
Valencia Open 500—Spain
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