PLENTY of players enjoyed spoiling the party for the American locals at Delray Beach, while the number one seed fell in Marseille by a veteran Frenchman.

DELRAY BEACH OPEN – DELRAY BEACH, UNITED STATES:

Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka has spoilt the party of American wildcard Brandon Nakashima, downing the teenager in a come-from-behind three-set win. Nishioka was on the ropes early in the match, down a set and forced into a tiebreaker, but the world number 63 managed to fight his way out of it to win the tiebreaker 7-5 and then hold off his determined opponent, 3-6 7-6 6-4 in a thrilling contest. The match last two hours and 25 minutes, with Nishioka winning 69 per cent of his second serve points, the key difference between the duo, with Nakashima winning the 47 per cent. Both players broke three times, but it was Nishioka’s last break in the deciding set that ultimately was the difference.

In other results, sixth seed Ugo Humbert will progress through to the semi-finals after also spoiling the party for the Delray Beach crowd, downing Frances Tiafoe, 6-2 6-1 in a 71-minute smashing. He will start favourite for a spot in his second final this year when he takes on Nishioka in the semi-final tomorrow. Meanwhile, the top two remaining seeds also made their way into the semis, with Canadian Milos Raonic set to take on the sole remaining American, Reilly Opelka after both had straight sets wins over Steve Johnson and Soonwoo Kwon respectively.

QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[2] Milos Raonic (CAN) defeated Steve Johnson (USA) 7-6 6-3
[4] Reilly Opelka (USA) defeated Soonwoo Kwon (KOR) 6-3 6-4
[6] Ugo Humbert (FRA) defeated Frances Tiafoe (USA) 6-2 6-1
Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) defaeted [WC] Brandon Nakashima (USA) 3-6 7-6 6-4

OPEN 13 PROVENCE – MARSEILLE, FRANCE:

Gilles Simon has stunned the number one seed and world number four, Daniil Medvedev in a 67-minute rout that saw the Frenchman progress through to the semi-finals. With the home crowd support behind him, Simon managed to break twice in the first set to Medvedev’s once, and it helped him get through with a tight first set win. Having been down before, Medvedev is known to fight back from adversity, but instead it went the other way. The world number 58 completely took the Russian to pieces in a donut set, to run out a 6-4 6-0 winner and book his place in the last four. At 35-years-old, Simon showed he can still match it with the best on his day and why he was a top 10 player in his hey day. His serve was impenetrable, with Medvedev winning just seven points off it – breaking once – which meant he only won three points for the remainder of the match upon return. On the otherhand, Simon won 55 per cent of his return points to really take control of the match and progress through.

Simon now takes on another rising star in Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime after the teenager knocked off Belarusian qualifier, Egor Gerasimov 7-5 6-2. Auger-Aliassime was the only Canadian to survive the quarter finals after both Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov were bundled out of the Open 13 Provence. Pospisil ran into second seed Greek star, Stefanos Tsitsipas who ran out a 7-5 6-3 winner to now face Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik following Bublik’s three-set win over the four seed, Shapovalov.

QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

Gilles Simon (FRA) defeated [1] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 6-4 6-0
[2] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 7-5 6-3
Alexander Bublik (KAZ) defeated [4] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 7-5 4-6 6-3
[7] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated [Q] Egor Gerasimov (BLR) 7-5 6-2