World Tennis Tournament: Three of the top four out in Rotterdam
A STUNNING day of upsets has seen another two top four seeds knocked out of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. After number one seed and world number five, Daniil Medvedev was sent packing in the first round, world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas and world number 11 David Goffin were also bundled out in remarkable upsets. It means only third seed, Gael Monfils remains from the top four, in a draw that has been blown wide open for the top 10 Frenchman to try and claim back-to-back titles here, as well as follow on from his Montpellier triumph last week.
World number 52, Aljaz Bedene bundled out the up-and-coming Tsitsipas with the 30-year-old winning 7-5 6-4 to book a spot in the quarter finals. He served nine aces, broke twice and saved all of the Greek’s five break point opportunities. He won 81 per cent of his first serve points, and looked ultra-impressive against a quarter-finalist opponent. His upset followed on from Italian wildcard, Jannik Sinner downing Goffin 7-6 7-5. The match took almost two hours to complete, but last year’s Next Gen Finals winner stepped up when required to win the first set tiebreaker 9-7, before breaking at a crucial time in the second set to win it 7-5. Sinner showed he has a huge future on the ATP Tour, serving five aces and winning 72 per cent of his first serve points, while Goffin looked out of sorts with seven double faults and just a 58 per cent serving efficiency. He bows out in Rotterdam after falling in the semi-finals of Montpellier the week before.
In other results, Monfils kept the status quo at least, defeating compatriot Gilles Simon 6-4 6-1 to move through to the final eight, while seventh seed Andrey Rublev also made it through to the quarter finals with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Alexander Bublik. In the last result, Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic ended Canada’s Vasek Pospisil‘s run with a 6-4 7-6 victory. In the quarter finals, Krajinovic faces Rublev, Monfils meets Dan Evans, Sinner takes on Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta and Bedene takes on Canadian teenager, Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Round of 16 Results:
A. Bedene (SLO) defeated [2] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) 7-5 6-4
[3] G. Monfils (FRA) defeated G. Simon (FRA) 6-4 6-1
[WC] J. Sinner (ITA) defeated [4] D. Goffin (BEL) 7-6 7-5
[7] Andrey Rublev (RUS) defeated A. Bublik (KAZ) 7-5 6-3
F. Krajinovic (SRB) defeated V. Pospisil (CAN) 6-4 7-6
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