IT WAS a good day for the French fans in Winston-Salem as their three hopes all won through to the Round of 16, two of them featuring upsets against seeded opponents. Experienced campaigners Richard Gasquet and Adrian Mannarino both knocked off younger talents Lorenzo Musetti (fifth seed) and Emil Ruusuvuori (ninth), while the 10th seed Benjamin Bonzi took down British hope Kyle Edmund to book his spot in the third round.
Gasquet’s upset of Musetti was the biggest of the day, with the world number 91 taking out the 20-year-old – 16 years his junior – in three sets, 7-6 4-6 6-1. It was a remarkable performance from the Frenchman, who turned professional the same year Musetti was born. Gasquet served two aces and won 71 per cent of his first serve points off an identical clip. He also converted three break points from five opportunities, while Musetti could only convert two from nine.
The higher ranked Mannarino is only 21 places below Ruusuvuori, and he was able to use his craftiness to knock out the ninth seed, 6-4 6-1. The Finn has potential, but it was the second time Ruusuvuori had fallen to Mannarino, this time in 87 minutes. The Frenchman won an elite 87 per cent of his first serve points compared to Ruusuvuori’s 58 per cent, breaking three times from five opportunities. It was a frustrating day for the youngster who set up who had three chances but could not make good on any.
Meanwhile, 10th seed Bonzi took an hour and 44 minutes to dispatch Edmund in a tight one, getting up 6-4 7-6, winning 83 per cent of his first serve points. His serving was far from perfect – six aces for six double faults and a 51 per cent serving efficiency – but he was able to convert three break points to two and win 40 per cent of his first serve return points, a crucial difference in the game, as the Frenchman won eight more points than his opponent (79-71).
In other results, Austrian Grand Slam champion Dominic Thiem won despite a first set bagel, with opponent and past Winston-Salem champion, Grigor Dimitrov having to retire at 2-4 down in the second set. Top 10 seeds Botic Van de Zandschulp, Maxime Cressy and Albert Ramos-Vinolas also made their way through to the Round of 16. A couple of qualifiers in Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler and Australia’s Jason Kubler stamped their tickets into the third round.
In a split day at Granby, the only completed result at the time of publishing was fifth seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz defeating Harriet Dart in straight sets, 6-2 6-4. Meanwhile at Cleveland, American wildcard Sofia Kenin won through to the quarter finals, joined by seeds Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Alize Cornet. Unseeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova dominated Belarusian lucky loser Iryna Shymanovich, while Poland’s Magda Linette won in straight sets against Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
AROUND THE TOUR RESULTS:
Winston-Salem- ATP 250 | Hard
Round of 32:
[WC] Dominic Thiem (AUT) defeated [1] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 0-6 4-2 RET
[2] Botic Van de Zandschulp (NED) defeated [LL] Tallon Griekspoor (NED) 7-6 6-3
[4] Maxime Cressy (USA) defeated James Duckworth (AUS) 6-3 6-3
Richard Gasquet (FRA) defeated [5] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 7-6 4-6 6-1
[8] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) defeated John Millman (AUS) 6-4 6-4
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) defeated [9] Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 6-4 6-1
[10] Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) defeated [PR] Kyle Edmund (GBR) 6-4 7-6
[11] Ilya Ivashka (BLR) defeated Peter Gojowczyk (GER) 6-4 6-2
Steve Johnson (USA) defeated [12] Pedro Martinez (ESP) 7-6 6-2
[13] Jack Draper (GBR) defeated Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-2 4-6 6-1
[14] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) defeated Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) 7-5 6-1
[15] Jaume Munar (ESP) defeated Chun-Hsin Tseng (TAI) 6-3 6-4
Laslo Djere (SRB) defeated [16] Joao Sousa (POR) 4-6 6-3 7-6
[Q] Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI) defeated [WC] Mikael Ymer (SWE) 6-4 6-4
[Q] Jason Kubler (AUS) defeated Soonwoo Kwon (KOR) 7-5 6-2
Cleveland – WTA 250 | Hard
Round of 16:
[WC] Sofia Kenin (USA) defeated [5] Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 6-3 6-2
[7] Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) 4-6 6-3 6-3
[8] Alize Cornet (FRA) defeated Clara Tauson (DEN) 6-3 7-6
Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) defeated [LL] Iryna Shymanovich (BLR) 6-1 6-0
Magda Linette (POL) defeated Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 6-4 6-2
Granby- WTA 250 | Hard
Round of 16:
[5] Nuria Parrizas Diaz (ESP) defeated Harriet Dart (GBR) 6-2 6-4
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