Marc Gicquel beat Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday at the Grand Prix Hassan II to reach the quarter-finals of a tournament for the second time this season.
The fifth-seeded Gicquel, who also reached the quarter-finals at the Zagreb Open in February, will next play No. 3 Julien Benneteau of France, who beat Michael Russell of the US 6-3, 6-3.
Also on Wednesday, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo defeated Thierry Ascione of France 6-4, 7-6 (4).
The Spaniard will next play Sebastien Grosjean of France, who rallied from a set down to beat No. 6 Arnaud Clement 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Clement broke Grosjean in the opening game of the match and in the third game of the second set. But Grosjean broke Clement in the fourth game of the second set and saved two breakpoints in the next game.
Top-seeded Tathiana Garbin withdrew from the Gaz de France Budapest Grand Prix on Wednesday because of a left thigh injury.
The 23rd-ranked Italian was hurt when she beat Nuria Llagostera Vives 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a rain-delayed, first-round match. The first two sets had been played on Tuesday.
Also in the first round, fifth-seeded Eleni Daniilidou of Greece defeated Greta Arn of Germany 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 and Gisela Dulko of Argentina beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2.
Agnes Szavay of Hungary upset seventh-seeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 6-4, 6-1.
Szavay, the 2005 junior French Open and Wimbledon champions, led 5-1 in the first set before Likhovtseva fought back to 5-4.
Likhovtseva was able to hold serve only once in the second set.
In the second round, Anne Kremer of Luxembourg defeated Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-4, 6-1 and Karin Knapp of Italy rallied to beat Karolina Sprem of Croatia 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
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Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
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