The Greek player won the match in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, where he will play Yoshihito Nishioka.
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Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas had little difficulty in beating Tommy Paul 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Lyon Open. The Greek player has been impressive during the clay-court season. He had recently claimed his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. “I had a great time today out on the court with the [crowd], we were able to create a nice atmosphere,” Tsitsipas said in an on-court interview.
“I felt a lot of love and support in the difficult moments, so I want to give them the best from my tennis,” he added. Paul, a former Roland Garros champion in the juniors, always had a tough task in hand and struggled to maintain the pressure on his high-flying opponent. Tsitsipas was hardly troubled on his way to winning the opening set.
He started the second with a 2-1 lead. Paul did put up a fight in this set, making it tricky for the Greek player. However, Tsitsipas held his nerve to see out the set and win the match after an hour and 15 minutes.
Tsitsipas will next face Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka, who toppled fifth seed and home favourite Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 earlier in the day. “He is a player who is very fast, and I think that helps on clay,” Tsitsipas said. “He has clay-court tennis, so for sure I am going to take that match as an important one.”
“I feel like I’m playing good tennis and I can play against anyone. For me, these matches are important, every single one of them. It’s going to be a battle against Yoshihito who is a lefty, on red clay which is my favourite surface.”
Elsewhere, Richard Gasquet defeated World No. 10 Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Lyon Open. “Diego is one of the best players, of course he’s Top 10 in the world, so it’s a great performance for me,” Gasquet said.
“I played really well. I had nothing to lose. It was a very tough match, but I know him, I tried to play my best level. Of course I tried to play offensive… I’m very happy.”
