ATP Lyon: Tsonga, Shapovalov, Bautista Agut and Paire reach quarters
The top seed Nikoloz Basilashvili is through to the fourth quarter-final of the season following a tight 7-5, 7-5 triumph over a lucky loser Tristan Lamasine in an hour and 36 minutes. The Georgian lost serve twice and grabbed four breaks from eight opportunities on the other side to seal the deal in straight sets and improve his score in 2019 to 13-11. They traded breaks in games six and seven and stayed neck and neck until 5-5 when Nikoloz won eight of the last ten points to take the opener 7-5. The favorite forged a 5-2 lead in set number two although the match was far from over, with Lamasine pulling the break back in game nine before getting broken at 5-6 just like in the first set to propel Basilashvili into the second round.
2017 Lyon champion and the crowd favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play in the fifth quarter-final on the Tour this year, battling past a qualifier Steven Diez 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in two hours and 42 minutes, winning just six points more than the Canadian and facing 15 break chances! The Frenchman fended off 12 of those, struggling on the second serve but keeping the focus in the crucial moments to move over the top despite only two breaks of serve he earned. Diez kicked off the match in great fashion, serving well and keeping the pressure on Jo-Wilfried who couldn't deal with it, suffering breaks in games five and nine and barely making an impact on the return until the closing stages of the second set. Luckily for him, the serve was back where he wanted it, reaching the tie break after traded breaks in games 11 and 12 and winning it 7-2 to gain a massive boost ahead of the decider.
There, the Frenchman lost only five points behind the initial shot and captured a break in game four, converting the sixth match point (wasted the previous five on the return) at 5-3 to book the place in the last eight. Benoit Paire needed just 67 minutes to dismiss Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-3, getting broken three times but delivering rock-solid display on the return for six breaks from ten opportunities that pushed him into the quarters. Two seeds had asked for a wild card before the start of the event and one of them was unable to play the second round match, with Richard Gasquet withdrawing from the clash against Taylor Fritz, deciding to take some rest and see if he can get ready for Roland Garros.
The other one, Denis Shapovalov, overpowered Ugo Humbert 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 in two hours and 16 minutes after more controversies with ball marks on clay and wrong calls. Both players converted five out of ten break points and the Canadian had to work hard after a slow opening set, finding the way to raise his level in set number two and never looking back in the decider for the 15th win of the season and only the second on clay this spring.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2YGsLo5
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