Sports Announcer. Andy Taylor. Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2018
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Day 1 of Qualifying. Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2018
It was a tough day of qualifying for local hopefuls at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2018. Out of the 8 qualifying matches Saturday, two featured Doha’s brightest prospects. Both lost in straight sets.
Mousa Shanan Zayed managed two games off the 2-seed, World #90 Maximillian Marterer of Germany; while Mubarak Shannan Zayid earned 3-games in the first and 4 in the second versus the 3-seed and World #134 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
Two-time Doha Quarterfinalist Dustin Brown fell in straight sets to Aldin Setkic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The German showman is now 0-4 against Setkic, who won their previous Tour-level qualifier in Kitzbühel, plus two additional first-round Challenger matches.
Italy’s Andreas Seppi is the top qualifying seed, and had no problem with 22-year-old Frenchman Calvin Hemery. Calvin capped 2017 by reaching two Challenger Finals in November, climbing to a career-high ranking of #152. Seppi, a Doha Semifinalist 3-years-ago, handed Calvin his first loss of the new season.
The most competitive qualifying match featured a pair of tie-break sets, as 26-year-old Stefano Travaglia of Italy squeeked past Vaclav Safranek of the Czech Republic. The two had a tough battle last year, as well, where Travaglia earned a deciding-set victory in the Quarterfinals of the Francavilla Challenger.
Portugal’s Pedro Sousa thought he’d give his left wrist a try on Saturday, but could only endure 27-minutes versus Sweden’s Elias Ymer. Saturday’s qualifier was Sousa’s first competitive match since injuring the wrist at the Rome Challenger back in September
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Full Day-1 Qualifying Results and Day-2’s Schedule
- [1] Adreas Seppi (ITA) def Calvin Hemery (FRA) 64 63
- [8] Mirza Basic (BIH) def Alexey Vatutin (RUS) 63 64
31-Dec | R2 Qualifying | 3:30p — [1] Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs [8] Mirza Basic (BIH)
- [2] Maximillian Marterer (GER) def [WC] Mousa Shanan Zayed (QAT) 61 61
- [7] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) def Liam Broady (GBR) 64 75
31-Dec | R2 Qualifying | 3:30p — [2] M.Marterer (GER) vs [7] M.Berrettini (ITA)
- [3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) def [WC] Mubarak Shannan Zayid (QAT) 63 64
- Elias Ymer (SWE) def [5] Pedro Sousa (POR) 42 (ret)
31-Dec | R2 Qualifying | 3:30p — [3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Elias Ymer (SWE)
- Aldin Setkic (BIH) def [4] Dustin Brown (GER) 63 62
- [6] Stefano Travaglia (ITA) def Vaclav Safranek (CZE) 76(6) 76(4)
31-Dec | R2 Qualifying | 3:30p — Aldin Setkic (BIH) vs [6] Stefano Travaglia (ITA)
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2018 Qualifying Draw
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2018 Qualifying Order of Play
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