Upsets were the order of the day as all three seeded players in quarterfinal action on Thursday lost at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag.
Alex Molcan of the Slovak Republic downed second-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Molcan converted 4 of 8 break-point opportunities, to 1 of 4 for his opponent, who had more winners (24-21) as well as unforced errors (34-19).
Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina knocked off fourth-seeded Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) in a match lasting three hours, 42 minutes. Arnaldi had more winners (62-29), unforced errors (67-25) and double faults (5-1).
In a match between Argentines, unseeded Roman Andres Burruchaga defeated seventh-seeded Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Burruchaga had more winners (21-9) and converted 4 of 5 break-point chances, to 3 of 7 for Carabelli.
The other quarterfinal of the day was between unseeded players, as Spain’s Daniel Merida dispatched France’s Titouan Droguet 6-1, 6-3.
EFG Swiss Open Gstaad
Second-seeded Casper Ruud recovered from dropping the first set to down Jaime Faria 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 in the second round in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Norway’s Ruud, ranked No. 13 in the world, needed 2 hours and 32 minutes to beat Portugal’s Farla, ranked No. 92. Ruud converted 4 of 14 break-point opportunities to 1 of 6 for his opponent.
Sixth-seeded Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina eliminated Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in similar fashion, losing the opening set in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory. Cerundolo, in reaching the quarterfinals against Ruud, had more aces (9-2) and saved 2 of 3 break points, to 2 of 4 for Kecmanovic.
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas started his match against Swiss wild card Jerome Kym on Wednesday night before it was suspended because of darkness with the third set tied 5-5. Tsitsipas went on to win 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5) and will face No. 4 seed Arthur Rinderknech of France in the quarterfinals.
Nordea Open
Top seed and former champion Andrey Rublev avoided an upset with a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over Italy’s Andrea Pellegrino 2 to advance to the quarterfinals in Bastad, Sweden.
The Russian, who won this event in 2023, pounded out 18 aces to four double faults and won 80% of his first-serve points (53 of 66). He did not face a break point, while Pellegrino saved 6 of 7.
Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, the third seed, downed Argentina qualifier Lautaro Midon 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4. Seventh-seeded Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina defeated Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; while eighth-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina cruised past the Netherlands’ Jesper De Jong 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 9 minutes.
–Field Level Media
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