Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Tsitsipas, Goffin out as upsets continue in Rotterdam

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Australian Open - Third Round - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 24, 2020. Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in action during the match against Canada's Milos Raonic. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas lost 7-5 6-4 to unseeded Slovenian Aljaz Bedene as upsets continued at the Rotterdam Open on Thursday.

Tsitsipas earned five break points in the opening set but the Greek failed to convert any and Bedene won 11 points in a row to wrap up the set.

Bedene, ranked 52nd in the world, took an early lead in the second, breaking Tsitsipas at 1-1 before serving out to secure only his second win over a top-10 player and set up a quarter-final with Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime.

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - ATP 500 - Vienna Open - Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria - October 25, 2019 Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene in action during his quarter final match against France's Gael Monfils REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

"To win against a top 10 player feels great," Bedene said in a post-match interview. "It's only my second time.

"I am serving really well lately. I'm trying to stay focussed on my serve, especially against big players with big serves (where) you don't get many chances. I guess I served well in the important points and kept my cool."

Although Bedene's unforced error count was higher than his opponent's, the 30-year-old fired 20 winners -- eight more than the world number six.

Auger-Aliassime advanced with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in 77 minutes.

Defending champion and third seed Gael Monfils progressed with a 6-4 6-1 win over fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon.

The world number nine claimed his 10th win in 12 matches this season, hitting five aces and converting six of his seven break-point opportunities.

Monfils edged a close opening set, breaking Simon's serve at 4-4, and pulled away in the second by winning the final five games in a row.

The 33-year-old, who is the highest seed remaining in the tournament after top seed Daniil Medvedev was ousted on Wednesday, will face Britain’s Dan Evans in the quarter-finals.

Fourth seed David Goffin was eliminated in straight sets by Jannik Sinner, losing 7-6(7) 7-5 to the unseeded Italian.

Russian Andrey Rublev continued his impressive form with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Alexander Bublik to extend his win record in 2020 to 13-1.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.