THERE was no shortage of upsets across multiple ATP and WTA Tour events overnight, but the major results came in Antwerp where three of the lower ranked players took out the top three seeds. In what was a dismantling day, number one seed Alex de Minaur, number two seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and number three seed Felix Auger-Aliassime all suffering defeats.

In the European Open, de Minaur made his return from injury to reach the quarter finals with a first-up win, but was ousted by Frenchman Hugo Gaston in three sets, 6-3 3-6 7-5. It was not the first time the Australian has suffered defeat to the 77th ranked Frenchman, losing at the first round at Roland Garros in five sets back in 2022.

Overnight, Gaston was more consistent off his second serve (56 per cent) as de Minaur struggled (43), though the Aussie’s first serve was at a high rate with eight aces and a 77 per cent success rate off a 65 per cent clip. Gaston broke three times to two to be the difference in the match.

The ninth ranked Australian’s hopes of getting to the ATP Finals in Turin was dealt a blow with the loss, currently in ninth for the ATP Race as well. He was not the only one with Stefanos Tsitsipas (11th in the world, 12th in the race) suffering a loss to Czech Jiri Lehecka in straight sets, 6-4 6-4.

In the other major upset, third seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime bowed out to former Top 10 player Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets with the gut-running, counter-punching Spaniard getting away with the 3-6 6-2 7-6 victory in two hours and 42 minutes.

The fourth quarter finals match was more as expected with eighth seeded American Marcos Giron suddenly becoming the highest ranked player at the event after defeating the last remaining Belgian hope, Zizou Bergs. Giron made his way into the Antwerp semi-finals with a 6-2 6-2 triumph in the quickest time of the day, 74 minutes.

Nordic Open | Stockholm, Sweden – ATP 250

While de Minaur’s hopes of making Turin took a hit, it was less substantial given Andrey Rublev‘s (eighth place) loss to Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka in the Swedish capital. Entering as a wildcard, the Grand Slam winner overcame Rublev 7-6 7-6 in a titanic struggle across an hour and 52 minutes to reach the semi-finals. Unfortunately his compatriot Dominic Stricker could not join him, bowing out to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3 6-2 in 71 minutes.

Another big upset was Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor getting past Norwegian Top 10 talent – and seventh ranked in the ATP Race – Casper Ruud, in an equally gruelling one-hour and 57-minute contest, 7-5 7-6. In the other result, Tommy Paul overcame a tight first set tiebreaker to knock off Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 6-2. Paul will take on Wawrinka in the semis, while Griekspoor will clash with Dimitrov.

Almaty Open | Almaty, Kazakhstan – ATP 250

Perhaps the biggest upset across any of the tournaments happened in Kazakhstan when 85th ranked Australian Aleksandar Vukic stunned top seed and tournament favourite, Frances Tiafoe in an hour and 28 minutes. Vukic produced a performance to remember to win 6-2 7-6, with the second set tiebreaker going until 13-11. The Aussie served 13 aces and won 79 and 65 per cent of his first and second serve points to never give Tiafoe a look-in.

Second seed Alejandro Tabilo also fell in the quarter finals with a loss to Canadian Gabriel Diallo in three sets, 3-6 6-3 6-4. Diallo will now set his sights on fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo who dismissed local chance and Top 50 player Alexander Shevchenko, 6-2 6-3. Meanwhile third seed Russian Karen Khachanov ended the run of another Kazakh in wildcard Beibit Zhukayev, 6-2 6-4.

Ningbo Open | Ningbo, China – WTA 500

In the only WTA 500 event of the week, the upsets kept on rolling with Czech Beijing finalist Karolina Muchova taking out seventh seed Russian Anna Kalinskaya in three sets, 2-6 6-2 6-3 to race another unseeded talent and Russian in Mirra Andreeva. She overcame a Czech in her quarter final, when fourth seed Barbora Krejcikova had to retire 7-6 3-2 down in the second set.

In the top half of the draw, fifth seeded Russian Daria Kasatkina became the highest ranked remaining player with a hard-fought three-set win over Yulia Putintseva 6-4 1-6 7-6, and will now go on to face former world number three, Paula Badosa. The in-form Spaniard knocked off sixth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia to enable the eighth seed to reach the semi-finals.

Japan Open | Osaka, China – WTA 250

Finally in the Japan Open, an incredible three out of four semi-finalists are qualifiers with six of the eight quarter finalists being qualifiers, wildcards and lucky losers. The sole seed is Frenchwoman Diane Parry who took out talented Dane Clara Tauson in three sets, 6-3 1-6 6-3. She will now face Dutch qualifier Suzan Lamens who came from behind to upstage Ana Bogdan in the all-qualifier battle.

The dream of a Japanese finalist in Osaka no longer has a guarantee in the semi-final after Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell overcame 18-year-old wildcard Sara Saito in straight sets, 7-5 6-4. However there is still a chance for the host nation to have a representative with local qualifier Aoi Ito upsetting German and lucky loser, Eva Lys 6-7 6-2 6-3 to reach the last four.