SEEDED players dropped like flies in Day 3 of the Qatar Open, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic among those knocked out in only the second round of the tournament.

Qualifier, Corentin Moutet put up a spectacular performance against Raonic to head into the fourth day of competition, collecting a debut win against the fourth seed Canadian in straight sets, 7-6 7-6 in just under two hours. The hotly contested match saw Raonic serve up 14 aces in a bid to stop Moutet in his tracks, with the 20-year-old Frenchman finding purchase off 71 per cent of his first serves. Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic followed suit when he took on third seed Tsonga, only conceding one game in the second set in a tight but well deserved victory, 7-6 6-1. Similarly to Moutet it was Kecmanovic’s maiden win over Tsonga, with this victory one for the books despite Tsonga experiencing back pain.

A second Frenchman in Pierre-Hugues Herbert forced his way into the next round alongside Moutet, defeating fifth seed Laslo Djere with ease in straight sets, 6-1 6-3. While Djere was not in his usual form, full credit to Herbert for his clinical performance in just over one hour of play. Sixth seed Serbian, Filip Krajinovic put up a tough fight in the only three setter of the day, eventually going down to Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 4-6 6-0 after impressing in the first two sets. Verdasco put his foot down in the third to ensure he came away victorious, denying Krajinovic a single game in the final set.

Second seed Russian, Andrey Rublev was impressive taking down Kazakh, Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets, 6-4 6-2. Rublev won 82 per cent of his first serve points, making it tough for Kukushkin to win points off Rublev’s hand. Hungarian qualifier, Marton Fucsovics had a stellar first set against Turkish wildcard, Cem Ilkel, collecting a fairly straightforward straight sets win, 6-1 6-4 to proceed to the next round.