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.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS