ATP Auckland: Bedene forced to retire against Querrey

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By Niall Clarke

  • Aljaz Bedene was forced to withdraw from his round one match with injury
  • He retired in the third set against Sam Querrey with the scores at 7-6(5),(10) 6-7, 1-2.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND- Aljaz Bedene is an Australian Open doubt after being forced to retire from his ASB Classic opener in the third set due to an injury.

The British number two was tied at one set all against Sam Querrey but could not continue after going 2-1 down in the deciding set.

The extent of the injury is unknown, but for now Bedene remains a doubt for the Australian Open until further information is uncovered. The 26 year old received treatment in his three hour match against Borna Coric in Chennai last week.

Bedene went down an early break in the match but found a way back when Querrey was serving for the first set. The Brit also saved two set points on serve before heading to an opener set tiebreaker.

The world number 49 raced into a 6-2 lead, but he had problems closing it out as the American was seemingly coming back. However after saving set points on the Bedene serve, Querrey surrendered another mini break to give the Brit a set advantage.

The second set was much like how we expected before the match. There were little break opportunities and that led to another tiebreaker.

It was a long breaker which Querrey was forced to save five match points, but the world number 60 came back from 6-3 down to take the tie break 12-10.

The match was firmly poised heading into the third and final set, but an injured Bedene could only complete three games and he retired 1-2 down in the third set.

Querrey will now face third seeded compatriot John Isner in the second round. The world number 11 received an opening round bye due to his seeding and his making his first appearance of the season. Querrey leads the head to head 4-1 however despite being ranked below his opponent the majority of their career’s.

Elsehwere there were victories for Phillip Kohlschreiber, Benoit Paire, Roberto Bautista-Agut, Fabio Fognini and Lucas Rosol.

The ASB Classic continues Wednesday with David Ferrer and Jo Wilfried Tsonga in action.

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