ARTHUR Rinderknech has caused the upset of the day across the globe in the Swiss Open ATP Tour tournament, downing second seed Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets. The Frenchman won 6-2 6-4 in the biggest win of his career to advance through to the quarter finals at the event. Set to enter inside the Top 100 after hitting his career-high of 100th recently, the Frenchman has now won nine Tour matches in 2021, another career-high.

In a match that lasted one hour and 34 minutes, Rinderknech was consistently powerful from the back court, and took control of points to dictate play and stun the usually-reliable Spaniard. He was not the only Frenchman through to the final eight, with young gun Hugo Gaston almost coughing up a 6-0 first set dominance to win following two tight tiebreakers. Whilst he looked good for the easy win against fifth seed Federico Delbonis, the teenager needed the full three sets for a 6-0 6-7 7-6 victory.

In the other two Swiss Open Round of 16 matches, fourth seed Cristian Garin and seventh seed Laslo Djere both advanced to the quarter finals. Garin won 6-3 6-0 against Australian Marc Polmans in convincing style, while Djere knocked off Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs in three sets, 6-2 4-6 6-2.

In Croatia, four Round of 16 matches were completed overnight, with the two seeds grabbing tight two-set victories. Top seed Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas defeated home nation wildcard Duje Ajdukovic in a tighter-than-expected contest, getting through 7-5 6-4. Similarly, fourth seed Frenchman Richard Gasquet won 7-6 6-4 in a neck-and-neck contest over Italian qualifier Alessandro Giannessi. In other results, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur won 6-3 6-1 over Italian Marco Cecchinato, whilst it was better news for another Italian in Stefano Travaglia who toppled Spaniard Carlos Taberner, 6-4 6-3.

In the tournament played most recently, the full Round of 16 undertaken at the Mifel Open in Mexico. On the hard court there, all the seeds in action advanced, with a couple needing three-set contests. Second seed John Isner overcame a scare from Russian Evgeny Donskoy to advance 7-5 3-6 7-6, while fifth seed Australian Jordan Thompson claimed victory against Austrian Sebastian Ofner, 3-6 6-4 7-5. It was a little easier for other seeds, Cameron Norrie and Steve Johnson who managed to navigate the second round in straight sets.

Norrie defeated Swede Elias Ymer and Johnson toppled Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama, with both matches going down 7-6 6-3. In the other completed matches at the time of publishing, unseeded Australian Alex Bolt took down Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez 6-3 6-1, whilst American qualifier Ernesto Escobedo defeated compatriot Denis Kudla in a tight two sets, 6-4 7-6. The last match underway was between third seed American Taylor Fritz, and Ukrainian Ilya Marchenko.

MIFEL OPEN ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[1] Cameron Norrie (GBR) defeated Elias Ymer (SWE) 7-6 6-3
[2] John Isner (USA) defeated Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 7-5 3-6 7-6
Brandon Nakashima (USA) defeated [4] Sam Querrey (USA) 6-3 6-4
[5] Jordan Thompson (AUS) defeated Sebastian Ofner (AUT) 3-6 6-4 7-5
[6] Steve Johnson (USA) defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 7-6 6-3
Alex Bolt (AUS) defeated Emilio Gomez (ECU) 6-3 6-1
[Q] Ernesto Escobedo (USA) defeated Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4 7-6
[3] Taylor Fritz vs. Ilya Marchenko (UKR)

CROATIA OPEN ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[1] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) defeated [WC] Duje Ajdukovic (CRO) 7-5 6-4
[4] Richard Gasquet (FRA) defeated [Q] Alessandro Giannessi (ITA) 7-6 6-4
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) defeated Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 6-3 6-1
Stefano Travaglia (ITA) defeated Carlo Taberner (ESP) 6-4 6-3

SWISS OPEN ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) defeated [2] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 6-2 6-4
[4] Cristian Garin (CHI) defeated Marc Polmans (AUS) 6-3 6-0
Hugo Gaston (FRA) defeated [5] Federico Delbonis (ARG) 6-0 6-7 7-6
[7] Laslo Djere (SRB) defeated [Q] Zizou Bergs (BEL) 6-2 4-6 6-2

Picture credit: ATP Tour