No. 3 seed Mischa Zverev has exited the Shenzhen Open. World No. 77 Dudi Sela surprised the German to reach the Shenzhen quarter-finals 6-3 5-7 6-2. Sela now has two wins and a loss against Zverev.
Both players held their serves until the sixth game. Zverev blew two consecutive game points as Sela took the first break of the match. The Israeli then held on to his serve to take the opener.
No much drama was seen for the most part of the second set. Not a single break point was seen until the 12th game. The set seemed to be cruising to a tie-break as Sela had a 40-0 lead on his serve. But, Zverev didn't give up, forcing a break point -- which he converted to clinch a decider.
However, Sela managed to keep his cool after a second set letdown. Sela broke to love Zverev to open up a 2-1 lead in the third set. One more break of serve in the seventh game was enough for the Israeli to seal the win.
Sela won 79 percent of his first serve points against Zverev. He also converted 3-of-4 of his break point chances.
The match came to an end after an hour and 46 minutes of play.
Sela plays Dolgopolov next
No. 5 seed Aleksandr Dolgopolov is set to be the next opponent of Sela at the Shenzhen Open Dolgopolov edged fellow compatriot Sergiy Stakhovsky to progress. It wasn't easy, but the world No. 53 managed to get the job done in straight sets 7-6 (7-5) 6-4. Dolgopolov now has a 4-1 head-to-head record against Stakhovsky.
Stakhovsky opened the match in style, having broken Dolgopolov in the opening game of the match. Stakhovsky held on until the eighth game when Dolgopolov broke back to tie it at 4-4. The set went into a tie-break after Stakhovsky saved three set points on his serve in the 12th game. Both players were leveled at 5-5 in the tie-break when the No.
5 seed won two points in a row to seal the opener.
Dolgopolov converted his second break point of the set to open up a 3-2 lead. The No. 5 seed then routinely held on to his serve to close out the match. Stakhovsky didn't even come close to creating a comeback as he didn't have a single break point during the set.
Dolgopolov hit seven aces and won 76 percent of his first serve points against Stakhovsky. The No. 5 seed converted just 2-of-8 of his break point chances on Thursday. However, it was just enough. On the other side, Stakhovsky fired nine aces and 78 percent of his first serve points. The match came to an end after an hour and 46 minutes of action.
Sela eyeing another upset
Sela and Dolgopolov are set to meet for the third time.
Sela beat Dolgopolov at the 2011 St. Petersburg Open before he lost in the 2015 Montreal Masters qualifying. It remains to be seen can Sela pull off another upset and reach the Shenzhen Open semi-finals.