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Raducanu into quarters after first top-10 win

  • Posted: Jun 26, 2024

Watch highlights as Emma Raducanu beats a top-10 opponent for the first time in her career and saves a match point as she defeats Jessica Pegula 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals at Eastbourne.

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Frenchmen Mpetshi Perricard, Van Assche reach Wimbledon qualifying final round

  • Posted: Jun 26, 2024

It was an all-French affair at Wimbledon qualifying Wednesday when 20-year-olds Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Luca Van Assche moved one step closer to the main draw.

Mpetshi Perricard downed countryman Antoine Escoffier 7-6(5), 6-2 after hammering 20 aces in the second round of qualifying while Van Assche survived a three-setter, overcoming Australian Li Tu 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(10-7) to advance.

The top seed Mpetshi Perricard is at a career-high No. 59 in this week’s PIF ATP Rankings, but on the May 20th Wimbledon main draw cutoff, the 6’8″ player was World No. 117. That week, Mpetshi Perricard went on a dream run, triumphing at his home tournament in Lyon to capture his maiden ATP Tour title.

Mpetshi Perricard next aims for his main draw debut at the grass-court major when he faces countryman Maxime Janvier in the third round. Van Assche meets former World No. 10 and fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille.

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Another pair of former Top 10 players, Richard Gasquet and David Goffin, advanced Wednesday. Gasquet raced past Alexis Galarneau 6-1, 6-0 in just 49 minutes while the Belgian Goffin beat Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-6(4), 6-4. 

American Maxime Cressy dropped just five points behind his first serve to oust Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante 7-6(9), 6-3 and 2022 quarter-finalist Cristian Garin defeated Tomas Barrios Vera 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. Kazakh Beibit Zhukayev ousted last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hamad Medjedovic 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4.

Second seed Hugo Grenier was a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 winner against Croatian Dino Prizmic, who took a set off Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open as a qualifer. Third seed Zizou Bergs, fourth seed James Duckworth and fifth seed Lloyd Harris also reached the qualifying third round.

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Fritz, Shang set Eastbourne QF showdown

  • Posted: Jun 26, 2024

#NextGenATP Shang Juncheng became the second Chinese male to reach a tour-level quarter-final on grass Wednesday at the Rothesay International.

The 19-year-old defeated Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after saving four of the five break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Shang, who advanced through Eastbourne qualifying, overcame a nervy start, dropping serve in the opening game before finding greater consistency and using his tricky lefty game to advance.

“I don’t think I changed much,” Shang said of his comeback. “Emil is a very complete player. He can do anything on the court very solid. I just thought, ‘If he plays better than me, this is it, I’m just going to keep playing my tennis’. It ended up working really well. Let’s go step by step. After today’s match, good recovery. I’ve played a couple days in a row.”

[ATP APP]

Following his win, Shang moved one spot to third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The teen is aiming for his maiden trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Shang is into his second tour-level quarter-final of this season (Hong Kong). He joins China’s highest-ranked male Zhang Zhizhen as the only players from their country to reach the last eight at a grass-court ATP Tour event.

Shang will next face a first-time Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with two-time former champion Taylor Fritz, who produced a serving masterclass to defeat Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-6(4), 6-3. The top-seeded American fired 15 aces, put 81 per cent of first serves into play and dropped just five points in 11 service games.

 

“In the first set it gets tight and it can go either way when you get to a ‘breaker, but I really didn’t see any opportunities where I could have gotten a break; he was serving well… I just had to get through the tie-breaker, take care of my serve and wait for my chances,” Fritz said.

“Both years I won here (2019, 2022) I came into the tournament not having won matches, not having played well. I know no matter what I can come here and start feeling good. It gives me a lot of confidence. Winning two matches last week was my best result at Queen’s, but I wasn’t super happy with the last match I played, so I still want to play better.”

Also in Eastbourne, fellow qualifiers Yoshihito Nishioka and Max Purcell advanced to the quarter-finals. The Japanese lefty rallied past Marcos Giron 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-2 and Purcell beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-4. Miomir Kecmanovic cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Sebastian Baez and lucky loser Aleksandar Vukic defeated two-time quarter-finalist Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4.

Home hope Billy Harris ousted countryman Charles Broom 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach his second consecutive quarter-final after last week’s surprise run at The Queen’s Club. Italian Flavio Cobolli was a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner against British lucky loser Giles Hussey.

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