World number five Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Mallorca Open yesterday in his first match with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 defeat by Yannick Hanfmann, a worrying result ahead of Wimbledon. Following another early exit on grass at the Halle Open last week the Greek was beaten convincingly by his German opponent, ranked 48th. The Wimbledon main draw begins on July 3.
Strong on his serve, Hanfmann did not face a single break point in the first set and only lost one service game in the match.
The German sealed his win against the erratic top seed with a forehand down the line.
“A lot of things have to work to beat a top 10 player, I had a really good start,” said Hanfmann.
“With the wind and the grass, having a match on the first day was really helpful.”
Hanfmann will face either Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, in his final competition before retirement, or Australia’s Jordan Thompson in the quarter-finals of the grass court tournament.
Christopher Eubanks surprised Ben Shelton 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) in an all-American battle earlier on. France’s Arthur Rinderknech also eased past his compatriot Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2 and will face Eubanks in the last eight.
Adrian Mannarino plays Corentin Moutet and Lloyd Harris meets Pavel Kotov in the other quarter-finals.
Gauff on cruise control at Eastbourne
World number seven Coco Gauff powered into the Eastbourne quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Britain’s Jodie Burrage yesterday.
Gauff needed just 59 minutes to demolish Burrage and set up a last eight clash against fellow American and doubles partner Jessica Pegula, who beat Colombian qualifier Camila Osorio 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
Enjoying the tranquillity of the grass-court event ahead of the start of Wimbledon next week, Gauff said: “Being in a town like Eastbourne where you can walk reminds me of home. It’s peaceful and I need that before getting into a Grand Slam.”
Britain’s Harriet Dart was brushed aside by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4.
Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina beat 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova.
Defending men’s champion and top seed Taylor Fritz was knocked out by fellow Californian Mackenzie McDonald, who recovered from a break down in each set to win 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8) against the world number nine.
“It’s a big win for me. Taylor’s a close friend and it’s always tough playing your friends. It was a battle out there,” McDonald said.
The American will face Swede Mikael Ymer in the quarter-finals after he defeated home favourite Liam Broady 6-2, 6-4.
Eighth seed Miomir Kecmanovic struggled past Aleksandar Vukic for a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win and will face Frenchman Gregoire Barrere after he upset fifth seed Nicolas Jarry in three sets.
US player Coco Gauff returns to Britain’s Jodie Burrage during their match at the Rothesay Eastbourne International in Eastbourne on on Wednesday. (AFP)
