Tursunov upset by birthday boy Spadea

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Los Angeles, July 20: American Vince Spadea celebrated his 33rd birthday with a dramatic fightback and a 6-7 7-5 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the second round of the Los Angeles Classic yesterday.

After losing the opening set 7-5 on a tiebreak, Spadea trailed 3-5 on the Russian's serve in the second before clawing his way back into the match in searing heat at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The Florida-based professional, who clinched his only ATP title in Scottsdale in 2004, took advantage of two double-faults by Tursunov to break his opponent before winning the next three games to level the encounter at one-set all.

Riding a wave of momentum, Spadea again broke his opponent in the fifth and ninth games of the final set to seal victory in two hours and 20 minutes.

Before the two players exited the stadium court, Spadea was presented with a cake by an ATP official and the crowd cheered the American by singing ''Happy Birthday''.

A beaming Spadea told reporters: ''That was a great mental match for me. I've been working on my game a lot this year and it was a good win for me.'' Asked to assess his comeback from 3-5 down in the second set, he replied: ''I can do all things, man, if I believe it -- and if somebody double-faults at the right time.''

DREAM RUN

Earlier, wildcard and local favourite Zach Fleishman continued his dream run with a 7-6 6-3 victory over fellow American Robert Kendrick to reach an ATP quarter-final for the first time.

The 27-year-old, a former student on the UCLA campus hosting this week's event, edged the first set 7-4 in a tiebreak before breaking his big-serving opponent in the first and ninth games of the second.

''I honestly put his serve up there with (Ivo) Karlovic, (Wesley) Moodie and (Andy) Roddick, all the best servers that are out there,'' Fleishman said after wrapping up the match in a little under an hour and a quarter.

''It almost feels like he can hit a service winner any time he wants. He was holding a lot easier than me but I knew if I just stayed in there and played my service points as well as I could, I would get an opportunity.

''I think I proved that this is an official level that I can play at instead of just one good one outing,'' added Fleishman, who produced the tournament's biggest upset by knocking out top-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the previous round.

''This is the first time I have ever reached the quarter-finals of a Tour event and I hope to take it further.'' Second-seeded American James Blake was scheduled to play fellow American Paul Goldstein in the day's last singles match on the stadium court.

Reuters





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