Just last week, Daniil Medvedev cruised past Roberto Bautista Agut on grass in straight sets at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle. On Thursday, the Spaniard flipped the script.

Bautista Agut eased past the World No. 1 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Mallorca Championships. It was the fourth time the veteran has defeated the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings (4-8), with his three previous victories coming against Novak Djokovic.

“I had to play very good to beat Daniil. He’s the No. 1, the last champion here in Mallorca. He just beat me a few days ago. I played a really compete match,” Bautista Agut said in his on-court interview. “I was more convinced with my game today, hitting strong, very solid. I think I did a really good match.”

It was not the first time the 34-year-old has troubled Medvedev. In fact, Bautista Agut won their three previous meetings outside of Halle with the loss of just one set.

Medvedev consistently frustrates opponents with his solid play, flat strokes and big first serve that puts them under pressure throughout the match. But it was the top seed who was visibly frustrated Thursday, making uncharacteristic errors as he tried to crack the Bautista Agut code. 

Normally, Medvedev is comfortable staying in extended rallies with anyone on Tour. But against Bautista Agut, he was trying to change the rhythm with drop shots and other plays, while the Spaniard remained in his comfort zone. The fifth seed faced just one break point — which he saved — in his 71-minute triumph.

“You need to be very confident that you can make it. Last week I was a bit far,” Bautista Agut said. “Today, I was with a lot of confidence. I knew that if I would play a good match, I would get my chances, and I got it.”

This year’s Doha champion will next play Switzerland’s Antoine Bellier or Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor as he pursues his second title of the season. Bautista Agut won his first ATP Tour trophy in 2014 on the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2019.

Maxime Cressy reached his second tour-level semi-final of the season Thursday, upsetting top seed Cameron Norrie 7-5, 7-5 at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.

The American overcame Reilly Opelka and Daniel Evans in his first two matches and produced another strong display on the grass at the ATP 250 event. The 25-year-old fired 10 aces and won 80 per cent (35/44) of his first-serve points to advance after one hour and 39 minutes in his first ATP Head2Head meeting with Norrie.

“The court conditions were amazing,” Cressy said during his on-court interview. “Thank you to the crowd for making the match so special and bringing an incredible environment. It is a big win for me.”

Cressy, who is making his debut in Eastbourne, will face #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper or British wild card Ryan Peniston in the last four. Earlier this season, the World No. 60 reached the championship match at the Melbourne Summer Set, losing to Rafael Nadal.

”It has been a tough past three months, but I have stayed resilient and I knew my time would come,” Cressy added. “My confidence is back and I am proud of myself and so happy.”

The 2019 champion Taylor Fritz continued his strong record in Eastbourne with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Alexander Bublik in 67 minutes.

The third-seeded American has now won his past seven matches at the ATP 250 event and will next play Australian Alex de Minaur or countryman Tommy Paul.

To get to the title match at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares will have to go through both finalists from last week’s Cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club in London.

The British-Brazilian duo is halfway there after a 6-4, 7-5 win against London finalists Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara on Wednesday. They can now look froward to a Thursday semi-final showdown against top seeds and London champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. The Croatians defeated Maxime Cressy and Ugo Humbert 7-6(9), 6-1 to reach the last four.

The second Eastbourne semi-final will see fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek take on Matwe Middelkoop and Luke Saville after both teams also advanced on Wednesday.

Marathon Match Tie-break in Mallorca
Matthew Ebden and Philipp Oswald saved four match points to edge Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Jamie Munar 6-3, 2-6, 18-16 in Mallorca. A pair of one-sided sets preceded a neck-and-neck Match Tie-break in which neither team led by more than one point until the Aussie-Austrian duo claimed its fifth match point.

They will next face Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar in the semi-finals, after the Uruguayan-Ecuadorian team defeated Germans Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, 7-5(3), 7-6(11). 

Stefan Kozlov moved to within one victory of his Wimbledon debut with a second-round qualifying win Wednesday at Roehampton. The American, who reached the Australian Open second round in his Grand Slam debut earlier this season, defeated Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 to set up a Thursday meeting with qualifying 23rd seed Dennis Novak of Austria.  

View Wednesday Qualifying Results

The 24-year-old Kozlov, seeded third in the qualifying draw, got past France’s Evan Furness 7-5, 6-3 on Monday. He currently sits at a career-high of No. 107 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, with his best results of the 2022 season including a quarter-final run in Delray Beach and a second-round showing in Acapulco after qualifying for both events.

Kozlov was one of four American men to advance on Wednesday, including 14th seed Jack Sock, Christian Harrison and Nicolas Moreno De Alboran. Sock, a 6-3, 7-5 winner against France’s Constant Lestienne, is seeking to return to the Wimbledon main draw for the first time since 2018.

Elias Ymer, who fell to Borna Coric in the final of the Montechiarugolo-Parma ATP Challenger Tour event last week, continued his smooth progress through qualifying with a 6-3, 6-4 result against Italy’s Riccardo Bonadio. The 26-year-old debuted in the main draw at all four Grand Slams in 2015 but has not competed in the Wimbledon main draw since. He reached the Pune semi-finals as qualifier in February .

Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber announced after his qualifying win on Monday that Wimbledon would be his last tournament as a professional. He started strongly against 32nd seed Mikhail Kukushkin in his bid to extend his stay, but fell short in a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 decision. The 38-year-old achieved a career-high of No. 16 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2012 and finished his career with eight ATP Tour titles.