Raonic, Tsonga Reach Lyon QFs; Elias Upsets del Potro
Raonic, Tsonga Reach Lyon QFs; Elias Upsets del Potro
Tsonga made to work for last eight berth
Milos Raonic began his quest for a ninth ATP World Tour title on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Denis Istomin at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon. In his fourth straight week on European clay, the World No. 6 lost just five of his first-service points and hit eight aces in the 81-minute encounter against Istomin.
Raonic, this year’s Delray Beach and Istanbul runner-up, will now challenge qualifier Gastao Elias, who reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year when he defeated sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro 7-6(0), 6-4 in one hour and 53 minutes. Elias saved one set point at 5-6, Ad-out in the first set that lasted 67 minutes. Raonic is attempting to lift his first trophy since January 2016 at Brisbane.
“I knew I’d been playing pretty well lately, so I knew I had a chance against a top player,” said Elias. “I’m really glad it happened today and I’m looking forward to the next round. I played very well, but I made a few unforced errors that I didn’t like so much in tough and windy conditions.”
Second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga worked hard for a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Carlos Berlocq in two hours and 23 minutes. Tsonga recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the first set to hold one set point opportunity on Berlocq’s serve at 5-6, 30/40.
“It was a great atmosphere today. The stadium was full. I am very happy to go through this round and have a chance to play in the quarter-finals tomorrow,” said Tsonga. “It is really important for me to play back-to-back matches. I had a small issue with my shoulder. I have to be healthy if I want to play well at Roland Garros and it starts this week in order to get more confident about my game.”
He will now face #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov, who turned 21 on Sunday, after the Russian knocked out Jordan Thompson 6-2, 7-6(3) in one hour and 34 minutes.
Third seed and wild card entry Tomas Berdych reached his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final (or better) of the season in coming back from a 1-3 deficit in the second set to overcome #NextGenATP qualifier Hyeon Chung 6-3, 7-5 in 83 minutes.
“This was a serious opponent because he’s a young guy and playing well. He’s coming through qualifying and players can be dangerous with the extra matches, so I’m happy with how I handled his game and the conditions,” said Berdych. “I came here because I want to get as many matches as possible, so hopefully I can go all the way through.”
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Aussies Save 1 M.P. For Semi-Final Spot
Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid saved one match point at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break en route to beating Brian Baker and Nikola Mektic 7-6(4), 3-6, 11-9 in 80 minutes for a place in the semi-finals. Baker and Mektic could not convert one set point chance on a deciding deuce point at 5-4 in the first set.
They’ll play Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner, who scraped past Andre Begemann and Philipp Oswald 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-8 in one hour and 46 minutes. Begemann and Oswald led 4-1 in the first set.
Third seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic saved four match points to defeat French brothers Benoit Paire and Thomas Paire 6-4, 1-6, 13-11. Marach/Pavic saved the match points in the Match Tie-break at 7/9, 9/10 and 10/11. Awaiting them in the final four will be Carlos Berlocq and Andreas Seppi or Andres Molteni and Adil Shamasdin.