Adrian Mannarino earned his biggest win by Pepperstone ATP Ranking on Thursday when he upset World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at the Libema Open.The Frenchman, who won the title at the ATP 250 grass-court event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2019, caused Medvedev problems with his flat groundstrokes throughout the two-hour clash.He timed the ball cleanly off both wings and returned with depth, avenging his semi-final defeat against Medvedev at last year’s event.Mannarino has now captured nine Top 10 wins, with his victory against Medvedev his second against a Top 10 opponent on grass. The 34-year-old also defeated then-World No. 5 Dominic Thiem in Mallorca in 2021.Medvedev has won a Tour-leading five titles this season but struggled with his consistency against Mannarino, who pulled the top seed around the court with an array of angles.Into his third quarter-final of the season, Mannarino will next meet Jordan Thompson. The Australian triumphed 7-6(4), 6-1 against Canadian Milos Raonic, who was making his return to Tour this week after two years out.In earlier action, sixth seed Tallon Griekspoor moved past Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2 to reach his fourth tour-level quarter-final of the season. The Dutchman will continue to lead home hopes when he faces Alex de Minaur in the last eight. The Australian beat Laslo Djere 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3.Fritz makes fast start to grass season in StuttgartTaylor Fritz is up and running on grass in 2023. The American opened his campaign on the surface with victory at the BOSS OPEN yesterday, defeating Aslan Karatsev 7-6(4), 6-3 at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart.Fritz lifted the trophy in Eastbourne and reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year and quickly found his range on grass again against Karatsev. He fired 14 aces and saved one set point at 4-5 in the first set to move past the World No. 48 in one hour and 25 minutes."I was really happy. When you come on grass the most important thing is serve and return and I feel I served really well today,” Fritz said.The second seed, currently ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will meet Marton Fucsovics in the quarter-final. Earlier this year, Fritz clinched his fifth tour-level title in Delray Beach.Earlier, Hungarian qualifier Fucsovics backed up his first-round win against Denis Shapovalov by overcoming Chinese player Wu Yibing. The 31-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Stuttgart in 2019 and 2022 and will aim to better that when he next meets Fritz.
June 15, 2023 | 11:20 PM