Read & Watch: Tsitsipas Reaches Milestone In Estoril
Read & Watch: Tsitsipas Reaches Milestone In Estoril
Monfils through in three sets
Last year’s semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas made a winning return to the Millennium Estoril Open on Wednesday, beating Guido Andreozzi 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
The #NextGenATP Greek fired five aces and saved three of four break points to record his 20th tour-level victory of the season (20-9) after 86 minutes. Tsitsipas is the third man to reach 20 victories this year, joining Daniil Medvedev (25-8) and Guido Pella (20-9) on the exclusive list.
Tsitsipas has advanced to the quarter-finals or better at six tour-level events this year, which includes championship-match appearances in Marseille (d. Kukushkin) and Dubai (l. to Federer). The 20-year-old will meet Portuguese qualifier Joao Domingues for a place in the semi-finals.
In the opening match on Estadio Millennium, Domingues became the lowest-ranked Estoril quarter-finalist in the tournament’s five-year history. The World No. 214 was leading John Millman 6-3, 2-1, when the Australian was forced to retire.
On his tournament debut, Gael Monfils conquered windy conditions and a tricky second-round opponent to advance to the last eight. After dropping the opening set, the third seed breezed to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory against Reilly Opelka after 89 minutes. Monfils played well under pressure throughout his debut performance at the ATP 250 event, saving nine of 10 break points to record his 16th victory in 19 tour-level matches this season.
The 32-year-old, who captured his eighth ATP Tour title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament earlier this year (d. Wawrinka), was making his first appearance since the BNP Paribas Open in March. Monfils was forced to withdraw from back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 events in Miami and Monte-Carlo due to a left achilles injury.
The Frenchman will next face #NextGenATP Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 19, who dismissed French veteran Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 6-2 in only 47 minutes. Davidovich Fokina was 0-1 at tour-level before this week but qualified for the ATP 250, beat American Taylor Fritz and is now into the quarter-finals.