Bautista downs No.1 and defending champion
Spanish upsets Medvedev and walks throug semifinals as Tsitsipas, Bonzi and Bellier
Roberto Bautista starred in Thursday's big win at the Mallorca Championships. The Spaniard eliminated world No.1 and defending champion Daniil Medvedev and qualified for the semifinals. He is joined in the penultimate round by Stefanos Tsitsipas, Benjamin Bonzi and Antoine Bellier.
The No.20 prevented Medvedev from continuing his run at the only ATP grass-court tournament in southern Europe to a third consecutive grass-court final. Bautista avenged last week's 6-3, 6-2 loss to the world No. 1 in Halle. The fifth seed of the draw improves the quarter-finals of the first edition, preventing his rival from revalidating the title, to now face Bellier. The Swiss beat Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands (5-7, 7-6[5], 6-2).
Tsitsipas, the second seed, achieved a hard-fought victory over Marcos Giron. The Greek needed two hours and 33 minutes to get rid of the American (7-6[5], 4-6, 6-3) and continue to distance himself as the player with the most wins this year in the circuit (38), ahead of Carlos Alcaraz (32). The No.6 is looking for his ninth title at the Mallorca Country Club and, to do so, his next obstacle will be Benjamin Bonzi. The Frenchman defeated German Daniel Altmaier (6-3, 6-4) to reach his second semifinals of the year after doing so in Marseille.
Doubles
Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar are the first finalists in the doubles draw. The Uruguayan and the Ecuadorian defeated Australian Matthew Ebden and Austrian Philipp Oswald (6-4, 6-2). The Latin American duo will be looking for their fourth title in four finals played so far since Delray Beach and Marbella (2021) as well as Belgrade (2022).
On the other hand, the second semifinal was defined. The pair formed by Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer will face Rafael Matos and David Vega. The Salvadoran and the Dutchman, top seeds, defeated the Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucar Miedler (6-1, 6-4). The Brazilian and the Spaniard came from behind against Aslan Karatsev and Belgian Joran Vliegen (3-6, 7-6[3], 10-5).