YOKOHAMA: Xander Schauffele closed in on his first win of the year after grabbing a share of the lead Saturday heading into the final day of the US PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan.
The American carded a third-round four-under-par 67 at a rain-soaked Yokohama Country Club to move level with Max Greyserman on 12-under, three shots clear of their nearest challengers.
Schauffele won the British Open and the PGA Championship in 2024 but has yet to lift a trophy this year and has only finished in the top 10 three times.
The 31-year-old, part of the losing US Ryder Cup team two weeks ago, said confidence was “a tricky thing.”
“It takes a while to grow and then it goes away quickly,” he said.
“I’m just trying to put one walk after the other and slowly grow that confidence. So far we’ve been doing that.”
Schauffele hit six birdies and two bogeys to close the gap on fellow American Greyserman, who led by four shots at the start of the day.
Constant rain presented the players with a different challenge after strong wind on the opening day was followed by mild conditions for the second round.
“The weather has been tricky, so I’m proud of the fight to stay in it today,” said Schauffele.
“Round one felt like survival, round two felt like the course was pretty gettable and today felt like a bit of survival with pockets of a little bit less rain.”
Greyserman saw his lead slip away with a double bogey on the seventh hole and he finished with an even-par 71.
The 30-year-old went into the final day of last year’s tournament in Japan in contention for the title before finishing runner-up to Colombia’s Nico Echavarria.
Greyserman said he would take the positives from last year’s experience as he looks to win his first career title.
“I played a good round last year on Sunday and I got beat, I don’t think I gave up the tournament by any means,” he said.
“I thought I handled everything well and competed well and executed well, so that’s the plan for tomorrow.”
Defending champion Echavarria was in a group three shots behind the leading pair, along with South Koreans An Byeong-hun and Kim Si-woo, South African Garrick Higgo and American Michael Thorbjornsen.
Schauffele’s Ryder Cup team-mate Collin Morikawa was 10 shots off the pace on two-under while Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama was four-under after a late double bogey.
Schauffele grabs share of Japan lead in bid to break drought
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Schauffele grabs share of Japan lead in bid to break drought
- Schauffele won the British Open and the PGA Championship in 2024 but has yet to lift a trophy this year
- The 31-year-old, part of the losing US Ryder Cup team two weeks ago, said confidence was “a tricky thing“
Humbert stuns Tsitsipas as defending champion exits Dubai in first round
- Last year’s winner lost in straight sets to the 2024 champion
- Ugo Humbert will now play the 2022 champion, Andrey Rublev, on Wednesday
DUBAI: Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday night, falling in the first round to 2024 title-winner Ugo Humbert under the bright lights of the center court.
The 4-6, 5-7 defeat at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium means the 27-year-old Greek, who left the court with his head bowed, will drop outside the world top 40 for the first time in almost eight years.
The first-round meeting between the two unseeded Dubai champions caught the eye as soon as the main draw took place on Saturday for this week’s ATP 500 tournament. Only seven world ranking places separated the pair and the lower-ranked Humbert, at No. 37, edged the pre-match head-to-head record at 3-1. Tsitsipas has not yet progressed beyond the quarterfinals across five events since the start of the year.
“It was a funny first round — the two last winners of the tournament,” said Humbert, who beat Alexander Bublik in the final here two years ago. “It’s so good to be back where I won the tournament. I have such good memories, and it was a tough battle tonight.”
From the first exchanges, both players dominated their service games with remarkable ease. Tsitsipas only conceded two points in his first four, while Humbert was forced to deuce in just one game. Yet as the scoreline progressed in undramatic fashion to 5-4 to Humbert, and with Tsitsipas’ majestic topspin backhand starting to purr, the Greek’s serve deserted him when he needed it most.
Fewer than 24 hours after he had enjoyed a Ramadan cultural experience that saw him don a dark blue kandura to eat the fast-breaking iftar meal, Tsitsipas demonstrated the season’s spirit of generosity by gifting Humbert a pair of double-faults, an unforced error and, ultimately, the opening set.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Tsitsipas unable to change the course of the match. Humbert conceded two break points in the first game yet found the resolve to dig deep and hold on. The set stayed on serve for 11 consecutive games until, with Humbert 6-5 up and Tsitsipas serving to stay in the tournament, another two wasteful forehands by the three-time finalist handed Humbert two match points.
The Frenchman took the victory at the first opportunity as Tsitsipas’ third unforced forehand error in sequential points sealed his fate.
“I think today, it was a big battle,” said Humbert. “We both served very well, and I had just a few opportunities and I did it, so I’m super happy. It’s nice to come back to play again on this beautiful court. I have such a nice feeling when I play here and it’s nice to be in (the) second round.”
Next up for Humbert is 2022 champion Andrey Rublev, who eased past France’s Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-4. The energetic Muscovite shuttled around Center Court like a man incapable of letting a ball past him, with more than one seemingly impossible return sent safely back by the 28-year-old.
Royer saved eight second-set break points by the time he levelled the set at 2-2, but Rublev’s serving was at times unplayable. His shot selection must have left his opponent bewildered as he mixed impudent drop shots with returnable volleys at the net.
“It was a great win for me because I knew very well in our first meeting, I lost,” said Rublev. “[Royer’s] a great fighter, and I’m really happy that I was able to take that challenge and go through in straight sets. When you play so late, to have some time to recover before the next match is so important.”
On facing Humbert, he added: “It’s going to be great for me to see my level because Ugo is a great player. He’s hitting the ball really hard; he’s getting better and better, and always fights until the end, playing super aggressive and hitting bombs from all over the place. He’s won here in the past too, so it’s going to be an interesting fight.”
Earlier in the day, eighth seed Jiri Lehecka survived losing the first set to Lucky Loser Luca Nardi — a late injury replacement for France’s Arthur Fils — by recovering to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Czech world No. 22 will face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday after the qualifier disposed of Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4.
In the final game on New Court 1, sixth seed Jakub Mensik edged past Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 7-6 (7). Mensik will face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, the world No. 47, who narrowly edged out Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Meanwhile on Court 2, world No. 25 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands — the highest-ranked player not seeded in Dubai this week — defeated Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen 6-3, 6-4 to set-up a mouthwatering second round match against second seed Alexander Bublik.
Elsewhere, Arthur Rinderknech also lost the first set en route to defeating Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The imposing Frenchman will play British fourth seed Jack Draper in the next round. The USA’s Jenson Brooksby, the world No. 49, dispatched Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 to seal a last-16 tie against seventh seed Karen Khachanov, who required three sets to eliminate Lucky Loser Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
