Gilles Simon emerged victorious in a battle of 2018 ATP World Tour titlists at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Wednesday.

The Tata Open Maharashtra champion overcame surprise Ecuador Open winner Roberto Carballes Baena 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 49 minutes to book his place in the quarter-finals. The French veteran won 66 per cent of points behind his first serve and will next meet 2014 champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or fourth seed Richard Gasquet.

Morocco’s Lamine Ouahab produced a huge shock to open the day on Court Central, coming from a set down to defeat World No. 34 Philipp Kohlschreiber 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(3). Ouahab, competing in his first main draw match on the ATP World Tour in two years, won 69 per cent of points behind his first serve and broke last year’s finalist (l. to Coric) on four occasions to seal the one-hour, 34-minute victory in a decisive final-set tie-break. The World No. 617 will next face Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, for a place in the quarter-finals.

“I was quite tense at the beginning,” admitted Ouahab. “This is my only chance to play an ATP World Tour 250-level event and it means a lot to me with a lot at stake.

“After a while I relaxed and focused on playing my game. That’s when I started playing better. I love playing at home and the support from the crowd is great. It helped a lot, especially in the final set.”

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

Qualifier Alexey Vatutin produced one of the upsets of the day to beat top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(4), 6-2. The Russian, competing in his first ATP World Tour event, backed up his surprise win over Jan-Lennard Struff in style, taking just under two hours to knock the 2012 finalist out of the tournament.

Vatutin broke the World No. 23 on five occasions and will meet Pablo Andujar for a place in the semi-finals. Andujar, who recently won the Ferrero Challenger Open in Alicante, dropped just two games to advance, beating Andrea Arnaboldi 6-0, 6-2.

There was also success for Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri, who scored an impressive comeback win over Marton Fucsovics 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. The wild card, who reached the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi-finals (l. to Bautista Agut) in February, upset the Hungarian No. 1 in two hours and seven minutes to book a second-round meeting against No. 8 seed Mischa Zverev.

Radu Albot also followed the trend of the day in Marrakech, recovering from losing a one-sided first-set to win 12 of the next 15 games and beat Italy’s Andreas Seppi 1-6, 6-3, 6-0. The Moldovan had lost all four previous sets played against the World No. 62, but found notable success behind his second serve (22/34) on the Moroccan clay to earn his place in a second-round clash with second seed Kyle Edmund.

Did You Know?
Ouahab reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix Hassan II in 2015, when the event was played in Casablanca, defeating Robin Haase and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez before falling to Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

From tennis to tattoos, literature to world leaders, name a topic, and Denis Kudla likely has an opinion.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine and raised in the Washington D.C. area, Kudla is well-traveled, well-read, and well-versed in sports, the arts, politics and just about everything in between. ATPWorldTour.com recently caught up with the 25-year-old to find out more.

What’s your biggest passion outside of sports, and why?
My biggest passion outside of sports would be music. I played piano when I was younger but I have a passion for all genres of music. I think it’s amazing to listen to the art that comes from a musician’s mind. It’s something that’s always intrigued me.

Do you have a favourite genre of music?
I’m into deep house and I also like alternative a lot. Alter Bridge has always been my favourite band. Right now, I’m listening to old school bands like Puddle of Mudd and stuff like that. Nothing too crazy, just music that gets the adrenaline going.

What was the last concert you attended?
The Red Hot Chili Peppers during their farewell tour. It was pretty good. I wouldn’t say it was the best concert I’ve ever been to or anything, but it’s the Red Hot Chili Peppers and they’re legendary.

What’s the last book you read?
The last book I read was Bang Bang: My Life in Ink by Bang Bang. He’s a tattoo artist from Manhattan and he does tattoos for all the big celebrities. He started with Rihanna — he was her personal tattoo artist. He’s done work on Justin Bieber and a bunch of athletes like Thierry Henry… he shared his stories in the book and I’ve always liked tattoos. I’ve got two.

And your favourite book of all time?
That would be Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It described how these great people didn’t just come about by luck, it fell into place for them at a young age by a snowball effect. They managed to find their way through things and through different situations. It was very, very interesting.

What historic world leader do you admire the most and why?
Nelson Mandela, for what he did in South Africa in bringing equality there, and what he meant to the world by standing up for what he believed.

What’s your favourite sport to watch outside of tennis, and why?
I’ve always loved hockey. Being from Washington D.C., with the franchise championship droughts — even conference championship droughts — I’ve always been into hockey. My family is from Eastern Europe, hockey’s been in our family. My brother and I have a huge passion for it.

Outside of your immediate family and a significant other, whom do you admire the most?
My coach, Dustin Taylor, just because of the way he’s able to bring perspective into my life in a variety of ways. I think that’s an incredible ability for a coach to have and I admire that.

My tennis career will be a success if I…
If I’m able to leave the sport knowing that I gave it my all, and that I put it all on the line. It’s a cheesy answer, but it’s something a lot of (pro players) truly believe.

After my tennis career, I want to…
Have a lot of money (laughs). I want to coach. I want to stay in the sport. It’s what I’ve known my whole life. To be able to help others in tennis would be something special, something important.

If Nick Kyrgios wins his maiden ATP World Tour clay-court title this week in Houston, perhaps Jack Sock, John Isner and Sam Querrey should ask for a cut of his prize money.

The Americans pitched Kyrgios on coming to the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, and it worked: The 22-year-old Aussie is making his debut at the only clay-court event in North America.

“I heard a lot of good things about it. Obviously a couple of my buddies always play this tournament, told me, ‘You’d love it here’,” Kyrgios said on Tuesday. “All the Americans said it’s an amazing tournament. So I gave it a chance and it’s been unbelievable so far.”

The Aussie officially made his Houston debut on Monday, falling in doubles with countryman Matt Reid. But Kyrgios’ singles stay will start on Wednesday when he faces American Bjorn Fratangelo, who dropped only two games in beating Kyrgios’ countryman Jordan Thompson 6-1, 6-1 on Monday.

Kyrgios carries altered expectations this week compared to his start of the year. In January, after declaring it was “time to mature”, he had the best beginning of his career.

The 22-year-old hoisted his fourth tour-level title at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp and reached the fourth round at his home Grand Slam in Melbourne.

But injuries to his back and right elbow have slowed him down. He withdrew from Rotterdam, Delray Beach, Acapulco and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells before making the fourth round at the Miami Open presented by Itau (l. to Zverev) last month.

“Just to go out there and get through a match without having pain is a success for me. Obviously I want to go out there, win matches, win a tournament. I’m more than capable of that,” Kyrgios said.

“But at this stage it’s just more about making sure my body can sustain match pressure. Going out there and practising is different than going out there in a match situation and feeling no pain, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Read More: The Best Investment Isner Ever Made

Kyrgios reached his lone clay-court final in 2015 at the Millennium Estoril Open. His Top 5 potential can transfer to any surface, as top seed John Isner acknowledged earlier this week.

“He’s got a service motion that, it won’t ever fail. It’s a perfect service motion. He’s just so talented. His backhand is world-class. His forehand is world-class. For him, everyone knows, he knows, it’s all between his ears,” Isner said.

“If he wants to put it together, I think he can, and he has showed that. So hopefully he comes here in the right frame of mind and puts on a good show for everyone here in Houston.”

To Kyrgios, the change to clay means having patience, waiting a shot or two longer before unleashing a 110-mph forehand down the line. But he sounds ready for the task and appreciative of his improved health, all good news for Houston fans.

“If you’re pretty physically strong you have good success [on clay]. But for me I think it’s just about being disciplined. You can’t shorten the points as much as you can on other surfaces. You gotta hang tough, and you’ll have good success,” Kyrgios said. “I’m just pretty grateful to be in a healthier state of mind and ready to get going.”