Third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame some tough resistance from qualifier Mischa Zverev to reach the quarter-finals of the Open de Moselle with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 victory on Wednesday.
Tsonga hit 12 aces and saved six of the eight break points which the Frenchman faced in a match that lasted 2 hours, 15 minutes at the indoor hard court tournament.
Gilles Muller of Luxembourg hit 17 aces to make it to the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) win over eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco.
The 45th-ranked Muller, who produced his first win in three meetings with his Spanish rival, will next face the winner of an all-French contest between two-time former champion Gilles Simon and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber saved five break points to progress to the second round with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 defeat of John Millman. Next up against Kohlschreiber is Paolo Lorenzi, who rallied past Steve Darcis 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Darcis sent Belgium into the Davis Cup final by winning the decisive fifth match against Argentina last weekend.
Top-seeded Stan Wawrinka was to open his campaign against Dustin Brown yesterday.
St Petersburg Open
Third-seeded Dominic Thiem breezed into the quarter-finals of the St Petersburg Open on Wednesday, beating his fellow Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2, 7-6 (7/2).
From 2-1 down in the first set, Thiem won the next seven games to take the set and go a break up in the second as Haider-Maurer struggled with his serve.
Errors from Thiem helped Haider-Maurer to level the score at 4-4 in the second set, but Thiem cruised to victory in the tiebreak.
The 22-year-old Thiem, who is chasing his fourth ATP title of a breakthrough season, had not played since losing to Kevin Anderson in the third round of the US Open 18 days earlier.
“My last match was a long time ago, so it’s always hard to play your first match, especially against Andy,” Thiem said in televised comments. “It’s a good start to the tournament and I hope it goes on like this.”
Eighth-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakshtan went out in the first round, beaten 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-2 by Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin.
In Wednesday’s other first-round matches, Joao Sousa of Portugal was slow to find his rhythm against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot, but eventually came through 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Sousa next faces Marcel Granollers of Spain, who saw off Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-3, 6-3.
Italy’s Simone Bolelli overcame the aggressive Russian 17-year-old Andrei Rublev 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to line up a match against top-seeded Tomas Berdych.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
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