[152] Corentin Moutet (FRA) vs. [156] Andrej Martin (SVK)
Qualifier Martin keeps his hopes alive of claiming his first singles title when he defeated wildcard, Moutet in straight sets. Martin like so many players has had to work his way back from injury and his confidence was tested by the young French qualifier. They traded breaks early in the first set; however, it was the veteran who found his bearings quicker.
The teenager came out when the Frenchman lost the first set to the Slovakian. Moutet chucked his racquet and threw his towel on the ground in frustration. They traded breaks in the second set as well, but it was the Slovakian who came out on top once again. He was a little wobbly at the end; however, he was able to hang on to get the 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Keep an eye on the young French kid, he is quite talented and just needs a bit of seasoning.
TSONGA PUSHED BY RUBLEV
Open Sud de France, Montpellier
[19] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs. [36] Andrey Rublev (RUS)
Tsonga had his hands full the entire match against the young fiery Russian. Although Rublev had opportunities to break in the first set, he was unable to capitalize. Rublev is still trying to figure out when to go for his shots and he made too many errors on crucial points.
Things looked promising for a deciding set when he got an early break; however, as we have seen time and time again, it’s difficult to consolidate an early break against the top players and even though Tsonga’s ranking has dropped, he is still a difficult opponent to defeat. Tsonga broke back and the second set went to a tiebreak.
Rublev unfortunately did not show up for the tiebreak, it was all Tsonga who won it easily, only losing one point to the Russian. With the 6-4, 7-6(1) victory, Tsonga joins fellow countrymen Richard Gasquet and Lucas Pouille in the semifinals. Tsonga will be tested by Pouille, who won their last encounter in 2017 in straight sets.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: Zimbio.com (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images AsiaPac: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images Europe: Andrej Martin)
