Top Seeds Fall in Sydney and Auckland

The results at the Sydney International and Heineken Open tournaments were not kind to the top seeds of each respective tournament on Wednesday as the day saw a number of surprises.

First in Sydney, Juan Martin del Potro continued his comeback season with another victory, coming back from a set down to knock off top-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. The Argentine ripped 11 aces and notched five break points to get outclass Fognini.

“I thought I played better,” said del Potro, comparing it to his opening round match. “I felt better on the court, especially at the end of the match. I served well, I hit good forehands and my backhands improved from yesterday.”

He will continue his quest to defend his Sydney title when he takes on Kazakhstan qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarterfinals. Kukushkin ousted sixth-seeded Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 7-5.

Italian Simone Bolelli took out second-seeded Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-3 to push his way into the final eight. Bolelli won three break points and saved two of his own to get past the Belgian in one hour and six minutes. He will play Serbian qualifier Victor Troicki who came back to beat Spain’s Pablo Andujar 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Australian Bernard Tomic upended third-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarters. The 22-year old Tomic was the far better player on court Wednesday, firing eight aces and notching two break points He also saved two break points.

The other quarterfinal will feature the only two seeded players remaining in the tournament. Fourth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil 7-6(3), 6-3 to set a matchup with fifth-seeded Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.

Mayer defeated Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(3).

Over in Auckland, New Zealand, a couple of Americans notched wins on Wednesday. Steve Johnson, seeded eighth, pushed past Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-1 and into the quarterfinals. He faces a tough task next when he meets fourth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson.

Anderson was able to knock off Germany’s Jan Lennard-Struff in straight sets 7-6(6), 6-1.

Donald Young came back from a set down to defeat Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Young currently ranks 56th in the world and will meet Czech Jiri Vesley in the quarters.

Vesley notched a nice win on Wednesday, taking out the second-seeded Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Vesley used a dominant serve to get past Gulbis, giving him just one break point chance and winning points on 77 percent of his serves.

France’s Adrian Mannarino received a trip to the final eight after third-seeded Robert Bautista Agut was forced to retire during the second set of their match.