Holder Richard Gasquet completed a French sweep into the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open on Thursday as compatriots Paul-Henri Mathieu and Gael Monfils advanced to a first-time showdown.
The third-seeded Gasquet, a Wimbledon semi-finalist against Roger Federer, demolished Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-4, recovering from a lost break in the second set as warm, dry weather in the Alps replaced three days of rain and cold.
Fifth seed Mathieu defeated Feliciano Lopez, who lost last year's final to Gasquet, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
Monfils was ruthless as he swept aside Czech qualifier Jiri Vanek 6-1, 6-4 in 51 minutes - seven minutes quicker than Gasquet's effort - on the back of 15 aces while never facing a break point from the outclassed No. 120.
Mathieu and Monfils have never played each other on the ATP. Gasquet will next take on 2004 finalist Igor Andreev, a 6-3, 7-6 winner against Italy's Potito Starace.
"I wanted to beat him since I lost to him at Roland Garros this year," Gasquet said of Vliegen.
"I'm playing with confidence from Wimbledon. Even if I didn't play my best tennis, I still got the win," he said.
The seed lost a break of serve in the eighth game of the second set, but got it back in the ninth before serving out the win.
"I was disappointed, I don't know what happened. I had been winning easily until then," he said.
Mathieu had to save four break points in the final set as well as recover from 0-40 in the fifth game against Lopez.
"That game was very important for me," the French winner said. "I served my way out of it. I'm tired from playing a lot of matches during the grass season."
The unseeded Lopez was fresh from a pair of grass wins at Wimbledon after a weeks-long run of poor form.
Mathieu fired nine aces to 11 by the Spaniard on the fast clay at an altitude of 800m. He also saved eight of the 10 break points he faced in a contest which stretched past the two-hour mark.
Mathieu stands on his best-ever ranking of 28th just three months after winning his third career title and first in five years on clay at Casablanca.
He improved to 4-3 at Gstaad.
"In the tiebreaker, it can go either way," said the winner, who will have only one week of holiday before heading to North America for the summer hardcourt season.
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS